Always Together
by Berserker88
Summary: Su, Wing, and Wan Wu are a trio of clouded leopard cubs struggling to survive in a cruel world. Never could they have imagined that they would one day be the most feared criminals in China. The story of the Wu Sisters, from orphans, to students, to assassins.
1. The Vow

_Author's Note: That's right, I've already started my next story. If there's one thing I learned from "The Art of Assassination", it's that I love writing the Wu Sisters, so I took that to it's logical conclusion and decided to write an entire backstory fic about them. There is exactly one other story like this that I'm aware of: "Circling Flames" by Synchronized Harmony, which unfortunately never made it past three chapters. So here's hoping I can actually finish this thing. _

_Please note that this will be quite a lot darker than TaoA, so I upped the rating to T._

_Anyway, on with the story._

* * *

Chapter 1: The Vow

The city of Jinzhou was known for a lot of things. Among those were street-fighting, rampant crime, and the large, dark forest that surrounded it. On this particular night, that forest was lit by only a single source of light coming from a small campfire. Huddled around the fire were three clouded leopard cubs, covered in tattered brown clothes and dirt-ridden fur.

Their names were Su, Wing, and Wan Wu, and as of now, they were orphans.

This wasn't as big of a shift for them as one might think. Their family had always been dirt poor, so they were used to living in squalor and struggling to survive. Most people would ask why a poor couple would want three more mouths to feed. The short answer would be, they didn't. They never wanted children at all, but their libidos were apparently more important to them than survival. And since they couldn't afford birth control herbs…frankly, they were lucky they only got three.

Needless to say, it wasn't a huge surprise when the sisters woke up one morning to find that they were the only ones in the house.

"I think the rice is ready," Wing said, peering into the pot that sat on top of the fire. "Su, come help me with this."

Su nodded and walked over to the pot, ignoring the pricking of the pebbles on her bare feet. Shoes were just another luxury their family couldn't afford. As far as they were concerned, having natural pads on your feet was enough of an excuse not to bother with them.

Luckily for them, the house wasn't left completely empty as there were still a few stray loaves of bread and some bags of rice left in the pantry. Su wondered if their parents had simply forgotten them, or if they wanted to give their daughters some kind of fighting chance. The idea that they did it out of compassion she dismissed entirely. They never cared about them before; why start now?

"Got it?"

"Yeah."

Su and Wing grabbed onto the pot and used their combined strength to lift it and drain the water into the grass. They then emptied the rice into three separate bowls and took two of them for themselves. Su brought the remaining bowl over to Wan, who barely acknowledged it.

Like all children, they had once been innocent and naïve, firmly believing that their parents loved them despite all evidence to the contrary. But over the years, their continued neglect eventually killed that attitude, replacing it with bitter cynicism. Su and Wing had stopped caring about their parents quite some time ago.

Wan unfortunately, had never reached that stage. While her sisters warned her not to grow too attached to their parents, Wan ignored them, thinking they were just overreacting. So when it became clear that their parents had truly abandoned them, she took it much harder. She had spent the past few days huddled in the sisters' shared bedroom, doing almost nothing but sleeping and crying. After failing to get her to come out, Su and Wing were forced to just leave her food outside her door and hope that she would recover in time. It was only today that she had finally left her room and joined her sisters around the campfire, but she wasn't looking much better. She hadn't said a word to them and was keeping her gaze firmly on the ground. Seeing the normally perky and cheerful Wan in this state disturbed her sisters greatly.

Su couldn't take it anymore and she placed a comforting paw on Wan's shoulder. She wasn't expecting much of a response, but she felt that she had to help. "Wan, please cheer up. It'll be okay."

To her surprise, Wan didn't just respond, she actually yelled at her. "_Okay?!_ Our parents are gone! They're goneand they're never coming back! How is that okay?!"

It took Su a moment to think of an acceptable answer to that question. "Because we don't need them." Wan didn't seem to understand, so Su repeated herself. "Our parents. We don't need them."

This time she got it. "W-What are you talking about?! Of course we need them!" she cried.

Wan was near-hysterical now, but Su remained calm. "Do we? Remember that time you fell and sprained your ankle? Who was it that brought you inside to rest and watched over you? Was it our parents?"

"N-No," Wan shakily admitted. "That was y-you and Wing…"

Wing caught on quickly to what Su was doing and decided to help out. "Yeah, and what about that time I got sick from River Fever? Who was it that brought me food and water until I got better?"

"T-That was us…"

Su nodded. "Exactly. We've always had to take care of ourselves. The only ones we can rely on are each other." She extended one paw towards her sisters face-down. "I want us to make a vow. No matter what happens, no matter what hardships we face, we will always, _always,_ stick together."

Wing put her paw in on top of Su's almost immediately, but Wan hesitated. "Wan?" Wing asked, glaring at her accusingly.

"I-I'm sorry. It's not that I'm not loyal to you, it's just..."

"You're still loyal to _them_," Wing growled. Wan flinched under Wing's glare.

Su gave her a much warmer look. "Wan, please. You need to let them go. Everything will be okay, I promise."

Wan still looked uncertain for a moment, but after a long pause, she finally smiled for the first time in far too long. With one arm, she reached up and wiped the remaining tears frm her eyes. With the other, she placed her paw on top of her sisters'.

"It's settled then. Let it be known that the Wu Sisters shall always be together." The three sisters finished their meal with renewned hope. They didn't know what trails awaited them in the future, but at least they knew that they wouldn't have to face them alone.


	2. Teamwork

_Author's Note: That first chapter was too short for my liking, so I decided to get another one out right away. Don't get used to that._

* * *

Chapter 2: Teamwork

"We're out of food."

It had been a few days since the Wu Sisters made their vow, and it was clear how much good it had done for all of them. Su and Wing were less bitter, and Wan was back to her bubbly, playful self. Finally, it seemed like they were a real family again. But it was only a matter of time until the inevitable happened.

Wing glared at the empty pantry, as if doing so would make more food magically appear. Despite her tough bravado, it was clear that she was afraid of what this meant for them. They all were, though Wan was the most obvious. "What are we going to do?!"

Su put a claw to her chin, lost in thought. There was really only one thing they _could _do. She walked across the room to one of the house's few windows and looked outside. Over the treeline, she could just make out the city of Jinzhou in the distance. Their parents had gone into the city often and always came back with food, however little. They themselves had never been allowed to go there, but it looked like that was about to change.

"You're thinking of going into the city, aren't you?" Su turned around to see that her sisters were standing behind her. It was Wan who had asked the question, sounding even more frightened than before. Su couldn't blame her. Fear of the unknown was only natural.

"What choice do we have? We need food and that's the only place we can get it."

"But even if we go there, how are we going to buy food? We don't have any money."

Su smiled. Wan's childlike innocence could be pretty cute sometimes. She was grateful that at least one of them had retained it. "Well in that case, I guess we're just going to have to take it."

Wan's eyes widened in horror. "But...but that's _stealing!_" If she had any idea what she would be doing ten years from now, this wouldn't seem like such a big deal.

"Look Wan, it's either steal or starve to death," Wing said. "I mean, I know we just made that vow to always be together, but I was kinda hoping that would last longer than a week."

"But...but..." Wan tried in vain to come up with a counter-argument until she finally relented. She sighed and looked out at the city herself. "This is gonna suck."

* * *

"Woah! Look at this place!" Wan gasped.

The Wu Sisters were in complete awe as they took in the city. The sight of so many buildings, and of so many different varieties, was overwhelming to those who had lived in the woods all their lives. It wasn't just the city itself that amazed them either, but the people within it. They had never even met anyone besides their parents, let alone anyone of another species, so they weren't quite sure what to make of all the pigs, goats, and sheep that inhabited Jinzhou.

After a few moments, they were able to shake off most of their shock and start walking. No one seemed to take any notice of the three leopard cubs, which they didn't mind in the least. The less people knew about them, the better. Unfortunately. finding food proved to be harder than they thought. They had never learned how to read, so the signs just looked like a bunch of squiggly lines to them. And they certainly weren't about to ask any of these strangers for help. This left them little choice but to wander around until they spotted food. They were actually okay with this. It gave them the chance to tour the city, something they were only able to imagine before today.

It took a good hour or so, but they eventually found what they were looking for. A booth had been set up in front of a small building, being run by a large, black boar. They watched as the boar received some money from a goat and then gave him a bag of rice in return. Once the goat left, the boar turned around and went into the building, which they assumed was a storehouse where the food was kept. They hid themselves behind a nearby wall, trying to figure out how exactly they would rob this place.

"Stop! Thief!"

The sisters all flinched, before remembering that they hadn't actually stolen anything yet. The door to the storehouse burst open as a young fox boy darted out from the building, running on all fours and carrying a loaf of bread in his mouth. A second later, the boar ran out from behind him, wielding a cleaver. "Get back here you little brat!" he shouted. Seeing that he had no chance of catching up to the fox, he hurled the cleaver straight at him. The fox turned a corner and ducked into an alleyway, just avoiding getting his tail taken off as the cleaver embedded itself in the wall.

Wan gulped. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Su was a little shaken, but remained confident. "Sure it is. We have much better chances them him."

"How do you figure?" Wing asked.

"Simple. There was only one of him, but three of us."

Wing continued to watch the boar as he snorted in anger and went back to his booth. "Yeah, that's nice and all, but I'm pretty sure we can't take that guy."

Su grinned deviously. "We don't have to. I have a plan."

* * *

Hao the merchant was having a pretty lousy day.

This was the third time he had been robbed in the past week and he was sick of it. All of the good, honest customers he made business with were lost to him in the crowd of filthy thieves and beggars that seemed to plague this whole place. He knew he should have stayed in Gongmen City.

"Excuse me, mister."

Hao's internal rant was interrupted by a small voice from over the counter. He looked down to see a small clouded leopard girl staring up at him with bright, golden eyes. One look at her told him that she wasn't a paying customer. "Go away, kid. I'm busy."

The girl cheerfully bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet. "I just wanted to ask if I could please have some food."

"Do you have money?"

"No."

"Then scram."

The girl didn't scram. Instead, she hopped up onto the counter next to him, dangling her legs over the side. "Pretty please?" she asked, giving the cutest pleading look she could muster.

This would probably get most people, but Hao had seen this routine way too much to be swayed. "Look, kid, I have a very important business to run here. Go bother your parents."

He regretted saying that immediately when he saw the look on the girl's face. "I...I don't have any parents." She started to tear up and Hao braced himself for what he knew was about to happen.

The girl let out a high-pitched wail and started sobbing hysterically. "Aw geez, I'm sorry kid. Please stop crying." But the girl showed no sign of stopping. Hao noticed that he was starting to get dirty looks from passerby. Thinking quickly, he reached under the counter and pulled out a large apple. He was saving it for himself, but if it got this girl to leave, it was worth it. "Here, take this."

The girl seemed to cheer up instantly and practically snatched the apple from his hooves. "Thanks mister! You're so nice!" She hopped down from the counter and skipped merrily away. Hao turned around and went back into his storehouse with a smirk on his face. That beggar girl thought she had gotten the best of him, but he knew that it could've been much worse. A single apple was no great loss.

That's when he noticed half his stock was gone.

* * *

"I wish I could've seen the look on his face!" Wing laughed, eating another spoonful of rice. "You did a great job, Wan!"

The youngest sister blushed at the compliment. Even though she didn't fully approve of the theft, it made her feel better that she technically didn't steal anything herself, not even the juicy apple that she was currently chewing on. "Thanks, but it was all Su's idea. She deserves the credit."

"Nonsense. The plan never would've worked without your stellar performance," Su insisted as she sliced one of the loaves of bread with her claws. "I swear, you could join an acting troupe." Wan blushed some more and this time accepted the compliment. Su suddenly took on a more serious tone. "Now, our haul today might have given us a little time to relax, but soon enough, we're going to have to do this again. Do you think you're up for it?"

Wan thought it over a little and smiled. "Yeah, I think I can manage."

"Good." With that out of the way, the three continued to gorge themselves on their ill-gotten gains. They were confident now that they could survive in this world, but today was far more important for them then they realized. For it was today that the Wu Sisters proved they could work together efficiently, and it was this skill that would one day become their deadliest trait.


	3. Clothes Make the Cat

_Author's Note: Holy crap, guys. I can't believe I already have a reviewer. I guess that's what happens when you don't write a crossover. Thanks for the support!_

* * *

Chapter 3: Clothes Make the Cat

In the coming months, the Wu Sisters continued to steal food from Jinzhou with little trouble. Their numbers gave them much greater success than other, individual, thieves. While they never stole from the same shop twice or used the exact same routine, the premise was always the same: have one of them create a distraction for the shopkeeper while the other two made off with the goods. And as it turned out, most of the shopkeepers in this city were far more gullible than Hao. There was not a single heist that they had failed.

There was one however, that they were forced to put off.

It began like any other heist. Their target was a traveling goat merchant who was passing through Jinzhou. Knowing the city's reputation for thieves, the merchant had brought along two rhino bodyguards to accompany him. The Wu Sisters were not deterred. They loved a challenge, an attitude that would remain with them their whole lives. As per usual, they hid themselves in an alleyway and watched the merchant's group while they worked on a plan.

"So what shall we do this time?" Su pondered. "Throw something at the guards? Start a fire nearby? Or maybe-" she was suddenly cut off by a loud shriek coming from behind her. Su and Wing turned around to see Wan collapse on her back in clear pain. But before they could ask what was wrong, they had bigger problems.

"Who's there?!" the merchant shouted. The two rhinos raised their weapons and went to investigate. Su and Wing quickly grabbed Wan and pulled her behind some trash cans. The rhinos came over the alleyway and looked around while the sisters held their breath and waited. After a few moments, the rhinos went back to the merchant and the group continued onwards.

As the sisters relaxed, Su looked down at Wan in concern. "What is it Wan? What happened?"

"My foot...it hurts. I think I stepped on something." She pointed over to her left foot. Su leaned over to look and immediately saw the problem. There was a large piece of glass wedged deep in Wan's footpad.

Wing saw this too and cringed. "Yikes, that can't be pleasant." Seeing that Wan was about to panic, she quickly added, "But I'm sure it'll be okay...right, Su?"

Su bit her lip. She wasn't exactly well-versed on medicine, but she knew enough about basic first aid that she had an idea of what to do. "Alright, first we need to get that glass out. Wing, hold her down for me." Wing pinned down Wan's leg, making her more nervous. "Don't worry Wan, this is just going to sting a little." Wan calmed down a bit and nodded. Using her claws like a pair of tweezers, Su carefully grabbed onto the glass. She took a deep breath and yanked it out. Wan gave a small squeak of pain, but that was all. "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Wan smiled in relief, but the problem wasn't over yet. The glass had cut open the pad and it was beginning to bleed. Not having any bandages on her, Su improvised and tore off one of her sleeves. She wrapped the makeshift bandage around Wan's foot a few times, stopping right below the toes. "That should do for now, but we need to get you home. The heist can wait."

As Wing helped Wan up, Su looked around the alleyway and saw that a broken glass bottle had been the culprit. Several more pieces of glass were lying around and she knew that they could have easily stepped on one themselves. Between that and her now ruined shirt, one thing was perfectly clear.

They needed some new clothes.

* * *

It took a long time to get Wan back home, especially since they had to help her hobble back the whole way, but they finally made it. They brought Wan back to her bed to rest and headed right back out. They all agreed that they couldn't let something like this happen again and now aimed to make sure of that.

Their new target was a small clothing store. It was the middle of the night by the time they made it there and the store had been closed and locked up. This was good for them. Stealing clothes would be a lot more complicated than stealing food and they didn't need anyone getting in their way. The front door of the shop was a bit too tall for either or them to reach so Wing bent down and lifted Su up on her shoulders. Su picked the lock on the door with her claws, a skill they had all learned over the past months, and they snuck inside.

The store was split into multiple sections for different types of clothing. After what had happened that day, they made finding shoes their first priority. They soon came across a section for wooden sandals and tried a few pairs on. After finding a pair that fit, Su walked around in them experimentally. "Hmm...these could work."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Wing, trying on a pair herself. "They feel kinda funny."

"That's only because we're not used to them. Give it time."

"If you say so."

The next thing they found was shirts. Most of the shirts here were barely any better than the ones they were replacing, but one particular kind stood out. Among the more expensive shirts were a half-dozen silvery gray vests with black trims. These were much fancier than they were used to, but they figured that if they were going to go through the trouble of stealing new clothes, they might as well steal nice ones.

Lastly, they found some simple black pants to match the shirts. Su ditched her old clothes right there and tried the new outfit on. She stood in front of the store's large mirror and checked herself out. Wing decided to do the same and went behind a shelf to change, talking to Su while doing so. "Yeah, these will definitely work. I think Wan will really like it too. She's always wanted to dress more fashionably and- hey, don't stand so close to me, Su."

Su raised an eyebrow in confusion. She was still standing in front of the mirror. So who was Wing talking to?

She got her answer when she heard Wing scream followed by an unfamiliar voice shouting in pain. She ran over behind the shelf and saw Wing standing over a young fox. She recognized him as the same fox they had spotted during their first heist. "Ow! What was that for?!" he yelled, clutching his bruised nose.

"Sorry, you startled me," Wing replied, though she clearly wasn't sorry at all. The fox got back up and Su took a better look at him. He was wearing a light blue shirt with brown pants and sandals. His clothes were clean, but his orange fur was not, making it obvious that he had stolen them. The fox looked back at Su and flinched a little. She assumed it was her eyes. Her sisters never minded them of course, but she imagined they would probably creep out most people.

The fox regained his composure and politely greeted them. "Man, you guys smell terrible._"_

"You're not exactly a rose garden yourself, fox boy," Wing growled. "Now just who the heck are you and what are you doing here?"

He laughed and brushed himself off. "You can call me Jin. As for what I'm doing here, I'd say that's pretty obvious."

"Not really, considering your clothes are still in good condition," Su pointed out.

Jin waved a paw dismissively. "Yeah, but I'm getting kinda sick of them. I was hoping to try out something else." Su's jaw dropped. He was stealing just because he _felt like it?_

"You're pretty arrogant for a guy who nearly got his tail chopped off," Wing said.

"You saw that?" he asked curiously. His eyes then shot open in realization. "Wait a minute, are you the same leopard cubs who've been stealing food from all over the city?"

"That would be us."

Jin suddenly became a lot more interested. "Woah, you guys are a _legend _around here! No one has ever been able to steal so much from that old grouch Hao before and get away with it!" Su and Wing looked at each other nervously. A high profile was really not something they wanted. "I'm surprised you haven't joined up with the Thieves' Guild yet."

"Thieves' Guild?" they asked in unison.

"You don't know about the Thieves' Guild?" The two cats just stared at him blankly. He smiled, as if relishing the chance to advertise. "Well then, I'm just the guy to telly ya. Basically, all of the best thieves in this city get together to share their profits. We also like to help each other out from time to time. You know, to keep up good business relations. If you guys joined, we could be more profitable than ever! What do you say?"

"We'll pass," Su said. Wing nodded in agreement.

"Wait...what?"

"You heard me. We've been doing just fine on our own. We don't need anyone else's help."

"Well...yeah, I guess you don't..." Jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "But if you change your mind, come down to the old warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The password to get in is 'Shanghai'."

"Will do."

Jin frowned in disappointment, but quickly perked up again. "Ah well. You can't win them all. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have some shopping to do." With that, he walked away and disappeared behind a shelf.

"What a nutjob," Wing muttered.

"Forget about him. Grab an outfit for Wan and let's get out of here."

"No problem." With new clothes in paw, the Wu Sisters left the store and headed for home.

* * *

Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched from behind a building by a shadowy figure. The figure watched as the sisters left the city boundaries and went into the forest.

"So that's where you brats have been hiding," Hao said darkly. "Soon enough, I'll be getting every ounce of my stock back, even if I have to cut it out of your thieving bellies."


	4. Innocence Lost

_Author's Note: Looks like my daily updates stop here, but that was bound to happen eventually. I know the previous chapters have been rather lacking in action for a KFP fic, so here's hoping to remedy that. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 4: Innocence Lost

The forest around Jinzhou wasn't visited very often. The woods were very expansive and easy to get lost in for those not familiar with them. There were even signs around the forest that warned people not to enter.

But all this mattered little to Hao. The boar merchant was so hellbent on revenge that he would chase those leopard cubs to the ends of the Earth if he had to. He had been robbed before, plenty of times, but those were little more than petty annoyances that had little effect on his profits. But what those leopards had done to him was of a whole other caliber. He had to spend most of a year's salary to replenish his lost stock, not to mention the humiliation he had to endure once the rest of Jinzhou found out what happened to him. All because of them.

So he was going to find them. He was going to find them and make them pay. And if he ended up killing them, then so be it. It wasn't like anyone would miss a couple of pitiful orphan children.

So with a lantern in one hoof, and his trusty cleaver in the other, Hao began his hunt.

* * *

"Oh wow! These are great!" Wan shouted as she tried on her new outfit. Her injured foot was doing little to slow her down as she bounced around the room in joy. She eventually calmed down and laid back out on her bed. "So...did anything interesting happen while you were out?"

Su was quiet for a moment. As much as she wanted to forget all about that obnoxious fox and his offer, she refused to keep anything from her sisters. "Yes...we ran into that fox from our first heist."

"Oh yeah! I remember him. What did he want?"

"He wanted us to join some Thieves' Guild he was a part of. We said no."

"Why? He sounds nice." Su sighed. Wan had a habit of thinking the best of people. It was a very _bad_ habit considering the current state of their lives.

"Because we don't need anyone else butting in on our family business," Wing answered for her.

Wan shrugged. "I'm just saying, there's nothing wrong with accepting a little help."

"Yes there is," Wing said bluntly.

Before this could go any further, Su decided to step in. "Sisters please, we don't need to talk about this anymore. We just got back from a mission, so I say it's about time for dinner."

Both Wing and Wan instantly forgot their conversation and turned to Su with wide grins on their faces. "I'll get the rice ready," Wing said as she went past Su and out the door. Wan made a move to get up, but Su gently pushed her back down.

"Nuh-uh. You stay here and rest. We'll bring your food up to to."

"But..."

"No buts. I don't care how much better you're feeling, you need to keep as much weight off that foot as possible. "

Wan crossed her arms and pouted. Su knew just the thing to cheer her up. "Tell you what, how about we all bring our food up here so we can eat together?"

As she expected, Wan brightened right up. "Okay, that sounds good."

"I'm glad. Now rest up a little." Wan yawned, curled up into a ball, and fell right into a catnap. With a small smile on her face, Su tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door behind her.

* * *

Su left the house and joined Wing over by the fire pit as the two sisters began setting up the area for dinnertime. "Do you want to do something different tonight?" Su asked. "It's kind of a special occasion."

"Sure! How about we try that new spice we stole a few days ago?"

"Yes, that should be interesting."

"There you are!" Su stopped in her tracks. That wasn't Wing's voice.

They both turned towards the sound and saw someone that they had hoped to never meet again standing in front of them. "I've found you at last!" Hao said, glaring menacingly. "It's taken me months of searching, but I've finally tracked you down!"

He glanced back and forth between the two sisters, but stopped on Wing, looking a bit confused. "Though _you _look a little different than I remember. I guess this is what you really look like when you're not pulling that 'sad little girl' routine." Wing just looked confused herself, but Su understood.

"_He's mistaking Wing for Wan",_ she realized. _"He thinks there's only two of us."_

"So what's it gonna be?" Hao asked. "Are you going to hand over my stock nice and quietly, or am I going to have to get rough with you?"

"Forget it," Wing spat. "We ate all of your lousy stock months ago, and you're not getting what we have now!"

To their surprise, he smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that." He suddenly charged, raising his cleaver high. The cubs jumped to opposite sides as Hao brought the weapon down between them. Su and Wing now flanked Hao from two sides and shared a look of determination. They never had any real fighting experience before, but they had a combined total of forty claws and more teeth than they could count. Surely, they had a chance, right?

"Nimble little brats," Hao snarled.

Hao came at Su, slashing at her with his cleaver. By pure reflex, she was able to duck and dodge away from his swings, though she lost a bit of fur in the process. Wing tried to attack Hao from behind, but was stopped when he turned and swung at her instead. Wing yelped as the blade hit the ground inches in front of her. As Hao lifted the cleaver back up, Su jumped and bit down onto his wrist, making him scream and drop the weapon. The boar brought up his other arm and smashed Su in the face with his lantern, sending her tumbling along the ground.

Hao reached for his cleaver again, but Wing quickly ran in and kicked it away into the bushes. "That's _more_ stolen property from me!" Hao yelled and brought his head down to try and impale Wing on his tusks. The middle sister was able to grab onto both tusks to stop them, but Hao whipped his head back up and flung her into the air. Wing reoriented herself in midair and dive-bombed down at Hao with her claws extended. Hao simply stepped out of the way, causing Wing to instead slam straight into the ground. He then stepped onto her back to pin her down.

Su came back to her senses, rubbing her bloody nose, and saw that Wing was in trouble. She noticed the pot that they used to cook rice in was lying nearby and threw the blunt object right at the back of Hao's head. The boar screamed and clutched the back of his head in agony. He didn't get off of Wing, but this did leave him open for Su to jump onto his own back and sink her claws into it. Hao screamed some more and thrashed side to side attempting to throw Su off, but she held on tightly, tearing at the skin of his back. This miserable merchant was not going to endanger her family if she had anything to say about it.

"What...what's going on?"

Su's heart froze in her chest. _"No...not now!" _Her fears were confirmed as she looked over at the porch and saw Wan standing there, terrified. Hao used Su's distraction to his advantage as he yanked her off his back and lifted her up by the back of her shirt, preventing her from clawing him anymore.

With two of the Wu Sisters incapacitated, Hao turned his attention to the third. "Ah...so that's it. You're the one that I remember. Do you remember _me _little girl?"

"Wan! Run!"

"You have to get out of here!"

Wan looked between both of her frightened sisters and back at Hao. It was then that Su saw a look on her face that she had never seen from her before: pure anger.

"Let them go," Wan hissed. She took up a feral stance, crouching down on all fours and baring her claws and fangs at him.

Hao laughed. "You think I'm intimidated by a brat like you?"

"I said..." Wan reared back and pounced straight at him.

"LET THEM GO!"

Hao was caught off-guard and stumbled back as Wan landed on him, stepping off of Wing and releasing Su. The eldest sister fell to the ground head-first and blacked out.

* * *

"What...happened?" Su asked weakly. As she slowly regained consciousness, she could see Wing sitting a few feet in front of her. Wing's attention wasn't focused on her though. She was staring at something to their right, both her eyes and mouth wide open in horror. "Wing?" she called. She got no response. Su followed her gaze, curious to see what it was that had horrified Wing so much. Once she found out, she was just as horrified herself.

Hao was lying motionless in a pool of blood.

And sitting in front of him, quietly sobbing to herself, was Wan.


	5. Then Let's All Be Monsters

_Author's Note: Warning: LOTS of angst in this chapter._

_But don't worry, it has a happy ending. Sort of._

* * *

Chapter 5: Then Let's All Be Monsters.

"Wan, please. Come out of there!" Su called to the closed door. Predictably, she got no response.

As soon as Wan had gotten over her shock from the Hao incident, she bolted for the bedroom and locked herself in. It was the same thing she had done when she first found out that their parents abandoned them. But this was worse. This was _so _much worse.

The last time this happened, Su and Wing had decided to just wait it out and bring Wan's meals to her room until she came out on her own, but that didn't seem like a good idea this time. Wan was refusing to eat and constantly degrading herself anytime she talked. She was acting dangerously self-destructive right now and who knew what she could do if left unchecked. So as much as she wanted to respect her sister's privacy, Su withdrew a claw and picked the lock to their own bedroom.

She slowly opened to door and looked inside. Wan was lying on her bed, facing away from her. She didn't even seem to notice Su come in until she was standing right next to her. Before she could speak, Wan beat her to it.

"...Where's Wing?" she asked, still not facing her.

"At the river, cleaning the pots," Su lied. Wing was indeed at the river, but she was actually there to dump Hao's body, something that Wan really didn't need to know. Wan remained where she was, not responding.

"Wan?"

"I can still hear them, you know."

"Hear what?"

Wan started to cry to herself again and Su mentally kicked herself for asking. "His screams. I can still remember the way he screamed before I..." she choked back a sob. "...before I killed him."

"Sister..."

Wan suddenly turned around to face her, eyes brimming with tears. Su winced when she noticed that some of Hao's blood was still on her. "Don't you get it?!" I'm a murderer! A monster! I don't deserve to be your sister!"

Before Su could respond, she turned back around and pulled the covers of the bed up to her neck.

"Please...just go away."

"Wan, I-"

"Go away!" she pulled the covers over herself completely. Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Su reluctantly left the room.

* * *

"And...in you go!"

With one final push, Wing shoved Hao's body into the river, where it quickly sank out of sight. It had taken her a long time to drag the body all the way out to the river, but Su was busy trying to talk some sense into Wan and that was more important than her arms getting sore. She was about to go back home when she stopped and sniffed the air. "Aw, man! Now I reek of boar!" She decided to hop into the river herself to wash off, thinking that it probably wouldn't help Wan get over Hao's death if she was covered in his scent.

Wing couldn't say that she regretted the death personally. As far as she was concerned, Hao was a spiteful jerk and he got what was coming to him. They weren't really _trying _to kill him, but she was just fine with that outcome. What had horrified her so much that day was not the murder itself, but the fact that it was Wan who had committed it. Because she knew that this was exactly what would happen. Her little sister was just too innocent for her own good.

She eventually decided that she was clean enough, shook the water out of her fur, and headed home. As the house came into view, she began to feel increasingly uneasy. She had hoped that Su would be able to miraculously cheer Wan up again, but judging by the way she was slumped over on the porch, it sure didn't seem like it.

"No luck?" Su just looked over at her and sighed.

"I don't know what to do, Wing. I can't get through to her. It's like she's completely given up on life."

For the first time, Wing realized just how serious this really was. Su _always _had a plan. The fact that she didn't now was nothing short of terrifying.

"Well, what did you say to her?"

Su growled in frustration, which was also rare from her. "I barely got to say anything at all! But honestly, I don't think it would have made much of a difference."

"Why not?"

"Because she flipped out and pushed me away when I called her 'Sister'."

Wing gasped at that. If Wan wasn't even acknowledging that she was family, then just how the heck were they supposed to help her?

"Maybe she just needs more time," she said nervously. "I mean, this isn't exactly something that's easy to get over. Could you imagine if it was one of _us_ in her position?"

Su looked like she was about to yell at her for the obvious denial tactic, but paused. She seemed to think over what she said for a moment and then her eyes suddenly lit up. "That's it!"

She turned around and went back into the house, leaving a greatly confused Wing behind.

"...What did I say?"

* * *

Wan was still huddled up under the covers where Su left her. Even now, memories of the incident continued to haunt her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw it again. Her pouncing at Hao, tackling him to the ground, and tearing his throat out. Just like that. She couldn't even explain why she had done it. Clearly, there was something very wrong with her, and she didn't get why Su and Wing couldn't see that. For reasons she couldn't imagine, they still wanted a filthy murderer for a sister.

Sure enough, she soon heard her door open again, followed by two pairs of footsteps walking up to her bed. Wan waited for them to say something, and when they didn't, she lost her patience.

"What do you want?!" she yelled, her voice muffled by the covers. Couldn't they just give up on her already?

"I want you to know that I would've done the exact same thing," said Su. _That_ caught her by surprise. The way that she said it told her she was dead serious too. Wan pulled herself out from under the covers and stared at Su in open shock.

"Same here," Wing piped in. "If it was me, I would've killed that boar in a heartbeat."

Wan was speechless. She couldn't believe that both of her sisters would do something so horrible without the slightest regret. "W-Why?!" She finally managed to ask.

"Because of our vow," Su said, smiling. "We promised that we would always be there for each other, no matter what. What you did, you did to protect us, just as we would have done it to protect you. So if you want to call yourself a monster, then let's all be monsters."

Wan felt herself beginning to tear up again, this time out of happiness. She grabbed Su and Wing by the shoulders and pulled them into a group hug. "You guys are the best!" she sobbed. Her sisters smiled and hugged her back. The three stayed like this until their tender moment was ruined by Wan's stomach growling.

She laughed sheepishly. "I don't suppose I could have some food now?"

To the average person, it would appear that Wan Wu had fully recovered that day. But she hadn't. While she remained just as perky and cheerful on the outside, the darkness that formed in her heart from that incident would stay with her for the rest of her life.

And her sisters would soon follow.


	6. The Thieves' Guild

_Author's Note: I'm getting kind of sick of all these short chapters I've been writing and you probably are too, so let's try and get back to the 2,000 word average I was hitting at the end of my last story._

* * *

Chapter 6: The Thieves' Guild

"No way..."

"What happened?"

"Holy crap."

These were the first words uttered by the Wu Sisters upon returning home from their latest heist. This was the same kind of heist that they had mastered over the past months and they pulled it off with no problem whatsoever. They even did it in better time than usual. But now they found that they no longer had any place to put the spoils.

Because their house was gone.

The sisters all stared in horror at what remained of their home. The small cabin appeared to have completely burned to the ground, along with everything in it. Granted, that wasn't all that much, but it did leave them out of a way to cook their stolen food. Not to mention their beds.

"So...do the gods just hate us, or what?" Wing asked as she looked at the melted remains of their pot.

"I believe that is a strong possibility," Su said, picking up a burnt rice bowl between her claws.

Wan was looking around the ruins for anything salvageable. Over the last few days, her footpad had finally healed up and she was back to helping her sisters on their heists, which was good, since neither of them could pull off "cute and innocent" very well. Not finding anything of worth, Wan turned back to her sisters with a sly grin. The situation may have seemed hopeless to them, but she remembered that there was an easy way fix it. "Still think we don't need any help?"

Su gave a resigned sigh and threw the rice bowl over her shoulder. "It looks like we do, after all," Wing saw what her sisters were thinking and snapped.

"No way! Absolutely not! We are _not _going to the Thieves' Guild for help!"

* * *

"I can't believe we're going to the Thieves' Guild for help," Wing grumbled. The three were now making their way out of the forest and towards the city. They were still carrying their spoils from the day in burlap sacks over their shoulders. The last thing they wanted to do now was waste food.

"I don't like this anymore than you do," Su replied. "But unless you'd rather sleep on the ground, we don't have much of a choice here."

"Come on, guys. What's so bad about meeting new friends?" Wan asked.

Wing stopped for a second to look her in the eye. "Wan, because I'm your sister and I love you, I'm not going to answer that question." With that, the conversation was effectively over and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

Finally, they reached their destination: the old warehouse sitting on the outskirts of Jinzhou. They took a moment to just stare at the door before Su swallowed her pride and knocked. A small slot on the door opened up and a pair of eyes stared out at them. "What's the password?" the doorkeeper asked.

"Shanghai."

The doorkeeper didn't look surprised that they knew the password, telling them that Jin had already spread the word about them. As they were let inside the warehouse, they took a look around at the vast space inside. The warehouse was crowded with large wooden crates, presumably filled with more than just supplies. They could see several new faces scurrying around, dirty children of several species all around the same ages as them. Is was then that Su and Wing realized that this alleged "Thieves' Guild" was little more than a bunch of preteen pickpockets camping in a warehouse. They were ready to leave right there when a familiar face spotted them.

"Hey, guys!" Jin called out. "You finally made it!" His bushy tail wagged in excitement as he ran over to them. True to his word, he had swapped out his blue shirt for a dark green one.

"So this is that Jin guy?" Wan asked, causing Jin to notice that there was one more leopard than he remembered.

"Hey, since when are there three of you?"

"Since always," Su explained. "We had to leave her behind the night we first met because she injured her foot." Jin nodded, but then realized something else.

"You know what? I don't think I ever learned your names."

"My name is Su Wu, and these are my sisters Wing and Wan." Su was the type of person who insisted on being polite, even to people that she really couldn't stand.

"Alright, good to know. So what brings you all to the Thieves' Guild? The last time we spoke, you seemed pretty adamant about not joining us."

"We still are," said Wing. "The only reason we're here at all is because our house burned down on us and we need a place to stay."

Jin started to look a bit nervous, which Su picked up on. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Jin tapped his claws together nervously. "Well...it's just...you know..."

Wing walked up and grabbed Jin by the front of his shirt. "TALK, FOX BOY!"

"Okay, okay! Just don't hurt me!" Wing dropped Jin on his butt and let the fox pick himself back up. "You remember Hao the merchant, right?" The sisters all flinched at the mention of that name, which Jin took as a yes. "Well he's been missing for a few days, so the Imperial Army put out a search for him. A witness came forward and told them that Hao was last seen heading into the forest. So they went in to investigate, and when they found your house..."

"They just decided to torch it?!" Wing yelled "Do they even have the right to do that?!"

"Yes, actually they do. They asked around town and found out that the original owners had disappeared months ago. So they burnt it down to keep squatters from moving in."

"_Squatters?!" _Wing unsheathed her claws.

"Their words, not mine," Jin said, clearly terrified of Wing right now.

"How do you know all this anyway?" Su asked, still suspicious.

"Because the Thieves' Guild knows everything," a new voice said. From behind a box emerged a shady raccoon wearing an entirely black outfit, including a bandana around the top of his head. The front of his shirt was ripped open, showing his gray-furred chest. Just by looking at him, they could tell that he was older than everyone else in the room, appearing to be in his mid-teens.

"The name's Hei Zei," the raccoon said, explaining his outfit. "I'm the leader of the Thieves' Guild."

"Never would've guessed," Wing muttered, rolling her eyes.

Zei ignored her and extended a paw towards Su. "So you must be those leopard cubs we've heard so much about. Good to hear you're interested in joining us, even if it wasn't exactly your choice."

"Not yet we're not," said Su. "Not until you tell us exactly what we get out of this."

Zei looked a bit surprised, but shook it off. "Very well. Follow me." Zei led the sisters on a tour of the hideout, explaining the Guild's benefits on the way. "As part of you membership, you will be given free shelter within out hideout, provided you perform your duties to the Guild. You will also be given an equal share of the food along with everyone else that will be taken from the Guild's collective pool. That would include the food you're carrying right now, I'm afraid."

"You mean you want us to give up our food?" Wing asked, none too pleased with the idea.

"Not give it up, s_hare _it." Wing didn't look much happier. "Relax, there will be more than enough for everyone." Without waiting for a response, Zei continued. "Finally, we have access to first-aid supplies and some medicine. Now, we're not expert healers by any means, but we should be able to take care of minor injuries with no problem."

"Well, we can't complain about _that _at least," Su admitted. "What do you think, Wan? ...Wan?"

Realizing that Wan was no longer with them, the sisters frantically searched around the warehouse until they found her. She was on top of one of the boxes, playing a game of tag with Jin and some of the other members. She snuck up on Jin, tackling him from behind and sitting on his back. Then they both burst into laughter. Su and Wing looked at each other, both thinking the same thing. They hadn't seen Wan this happy in a long time. The youngest sister had been through far too much in the past few months: Losing her parents, going into a fit of depression, injuring her foot, killing a man, going into another fit of depression...maybe this place was just what she needed.

"Fine, we'll join," Su said. Wing reluctantly agreed.

"Excellent," Zei smiled and clapped his paws together. "Then allow me to lead you to your quarters."

They followed Zei to a large crate that had one side torn away. The crate had been completely hollowed out and its contents were replaced by a bundle of blankets and pillows that covered the interior. There was just enough space for the three sisters to fit, but this didn't really matter to them since, being cats, they rather liked cramped spaces.

"I hate to admit it, but that actually does look pretty comfortable," Wing said.

"So you all just sleep in this warehouse?" Su asked, concerned. "And the Imperial Army has no idea that you're here?"

Zei laughed. "The Imperial Army doesn't even know we _exist_. They think that all the thieves in this city are only in it for themselves. Trust me, you'll be safe here."

Su wasn't entirely convinced, but she figured that their chances were at least better here than out in the city.

* * *

The sisters had spent about an hour adjusting to their new surroundings when Zei told them that he was calling the Guild together to introduce their new members. Su and Wing were wondering what the point was, since everyone already knew they were there, while Wan was much more excited about it. The sisters sat on the ground along with the rest of the Guild, forming a small half-circle. Zei stood in front of them as he made his announcement.

"Attention everyone! Today, three new members have joined our Guild. You may know these three as the leopard cubs who have been wreaking havoc across the city." They couldn't help but smirk at that. "It is an honor to have such talented thieves in our midst and I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of them. Let us welcome, the Wu Sisters!" The rest of the Guild immediately burst into wild applause for their new members.

"I never said he could all us that," Su huffed.

"I don't know. I think it has a nice ring to it," said Wan.

"Now then, let's all be sure to get a good night's rest. We have a big day tomorrow." Before the sisters could ask what he meant, Zei concluded the meeting and the Guild headed off to bed. They decided to deal with it later and went to bed themselves, curling up next to each other in their new "bedroom".

"Good night Wing, Wan," Su yawned and drifted off to sleep.

As she did, she could only hope that they hadn't made a huge mistake.


	7. Splitting Up

_Author's Note: For anyone curious about the names of my OC's, Hei Zei means "black thief", Jin means "metal" or "money", and Lang (introduced in this chapter) simply means "wolf"._

_And yes, I know that raccoons don't live in China. Having a raccoon as the head of the Thieves' Guild was just too obvious to pass up._

* * *

Chapter 7: Splitting Up

That night, the Wu Sisters had gotten quite possibly their best sleep ever. As it turned out, the crate filled with blankets was even more comfortable than they expected, perhaps even more than their old beds. Unfortunately, it was not meant to last.

"Hey...hey guys, wake up," Jin whispered, poking one of the sisters under the covers. He was really hoping it wasn't Wing, but that was nearly impossible to tell while they were asleep. Suddenly, an arm shot out of the covers and grabbed Jin's wrist so forcefully that he feared it might break.

"You better have a _damn _good reason for waking us up," Su snarled. Jin learned today that Su could be just as scary as Wing when mad.

Su looked outside the crate and couldn't see any light coming in through the hideout's few windows. "What time is it?"

Jin gulped. "About 5."

Su was about to strangle him when she noticed that Jin wasn't the only one up. It appeared that most of the other Guild members were also awake and active. The commotion woke up both of her sisters, who weren't taking this much better.

"Does everyone here get up so freakishly early?" Wan groaned.

"Fraid' so. Sorry, I should've warned ya yesterday."

"Yes, you should've." Su still had a deathgrip on his arm. "And _why _exactly couldn't we sleep in?"

Jin finally managed to yank his arm back. "Because Hei Zei is calling another meeting to go over our plan for the day. He wants you all to get there as soon as you can." Seeing Wing coming to, he decided to leave it at that and got the heck out of there.

Su sighed and reluctantly got up, smoothing out some of the wrinkles in her vest. This was just something else they were going to have to get used to. It took a few moments for her to get Wing and Wan out of bed and then they all made their way to the meeting place. Just like last night, the rest of the Guild members were sitting in a half-circle facing Zei. The raccoon smiled as they sat down and they realized he had been waiting on them.

"Ah, good to see you could make it!" Zei said. "Now we can get started."

"Started on _what_?" Wing asked. The lack of sleep was making her even more irritable than usual.

Zei didn't seem to care though, as he kept on smiling. "Glad you asked. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you guys this yesterday, but I wanted you to get settled in first. Long story short, we're planning a major heist today, and it involves you."

Su blinked in surprise. "Us? But you just _met_ us."

"Yes, but from what I've heard about you, you'll be the perfect girls to pull this off. Li, could you bring me the plans?"

One of the other members, a small rabbit, brought a rolled-up parchment over to Zei, who unrolled it on the floor. It appeared to be the floor plans of a single, large building, with some added markings in black ink. Wan looked it over, tilting her head in thought. "Weird...I feel like I've seen that place before.

Zei laughed. "You should. It's the mayor's house."

"WHAT?!" the sisters shouted.

Zei just laughed some more, as did Jin. "Man, you should see the looks on your faces. Priceless!"

Su wasn't so amused. "What possible reason could you have to rob the_ mayor? _Trying to get in some cheap thrills?" she spat in disgust.

"Have you ever noticed how much of a dump this city is?" Zei asked, catching her off-guard. The raccoon had suddenly become much more serious. "Barely any of the buildings are well-maintained, there's trash all over the streets, and most of the children here have to steal to survive. And what's the mayor doing about all this? Nothing! He just sits in his cushy little home because he thinks that our problems don't affect him. So I want to go in there and give him a wake up call!"

Zei's little speech had gotten almost everyone in the room cheering for him. The only ones who weren't were the Wu Sisters, and only because they were stunned into silence. "I'm...sorry," Su apologized. She meant it too. The raccoon had just earned her respect, which was not an easy task.

"No problem." Zei went right back to his normal demeanor, as if nothing had happened. "Anyway, I'll be splitting this operation into three teams of two. Each team will carry out a different stage of the plan." Wing was the first to do the math.

"Wait a minute! Three teams of two? Does that mean you're splitting us up?!"

"I told ya they wouldn't go for it," Jin said.

"Shut it, fox!"

"Alright, geez..."

Zei attempted to calm her down, a futile effort of course. "No offense, but you've only been stealing for a few months. I thought it would be beneficial to have members with more experience helping you out."

Su stepped in before Wing could go off on him further. "Could we talk this over for a moment?" Without waiting for a response, she motioned for Wing and Wan to follow her behind a stack of crates, away from the rest of the Guild.

"We can't just split up." Wing protested. "Especially not on a suicide mission like this!"

"Yeah, we've always done all our heists together!" Wan added.

Su was thinking it over herself. A part of her wanted to agree with her sisters and tell Zei to go screw himself, but another part was telling her that they should give it a shot, if only because she agreed with his cause. "Look, I know neither of you are comfortable with this, but it won't be for long. We'll be together again before you know it."

"But what if something happens to one of us?" asked Wan, who was clearly worried it could be her.

"Then the other two will come running. You know that."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Finally, both Wing and Wan seemed to accept this and the three went back over to Zei, who was anxiously waiting for a response.

"We're in," said Su.

"Great! Then let me lay out exactly how this is going to go down." Zei turned their attention back to the map as he went over the plan.

"First of all, we need a route in. We can't exactly walk through the front door, so I need Wan and Jin to scale the building and find an entrance." The cat and fox looked at each other and grinned. Su wasn't sure how to feel about this. She greatly disliked the fox personally, but he and Wan seemed to get along pretty well, so she could ignore it for now. If he tried to make a move on her though, nothing would save him from her wrath.

Zei tapped his claw on a specific room of the building, circled in ink. "Once they give the signal, Su and myself will enter the building, where we'll make our way into the mayor's room. Our target is a small ornamental statue. It's not worth much, but it's the mayor's pride and joy. Stealing it will _wreck _him!" Su found herself impressed even more by Hei Zei. She had been convinced that he was the type to sit back and delegate. The fact that he went on such dangerous heists himself, combined with his calculating mind that rivaled her own, made it clear to her that it was more then just his age that made him the boss.

Zei then gestured to a bunch of tiny dots littering the plans. "But all of this will be impossible with the mayor's guards patrolling the area, so we need a distraction to keep them busy. I'm leaving it up to Wing and Lang to stir up enough of a commotion for us to get this done."

"Who the heck is Lang?" Wing asked.

On cue, one of the other members pushed himself to the front of the group, tossing aside everyone in his way. He was a gray wolf with some pretty impressive muscles despite only being a kid. He wore the least amount of clothing of anyone there with only a pair of black shorts, and ripped ones at that. The wolf looked at Wing disdainfully. "You mean I've gotta work with some puny cat?"

"PUNY?!" Wing stood straight up and snarled in the wolf's face. Lang snarled right back and the two stood their ground, each trying to intimidate the other.

Su raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure this was a good match?"

Zei facepalmed. "I figured that they were so similar, they would go together well. I guess not."

Su walked up to Wing and pulled her away by her tail while Zei did the same to Lang.

"Wing, I know you don't like him, but-"

"-this is an important mission, so deal with it!"

Wing and Lang weren't getting along any better, but they at least toned down their snarling to bitter glares. "Fine," they both muttered.

"I wouldn't worry about them," Zei whispered to Su. "Lang can be pretty hotheaded, but he knows how to keep his focus when it matters. Is your sister the same way?"

"Yes."

"Well, I guess there's no problem then." Zei turned back to the assembled Guild. "Alright everyone, that about covers it. Go assemble by the entrance. We'll be heading out shortly." The Wu Sisters left the meeting area followed by most of the others. Zei was about to join them when Jin grabbed him from behind. The fox gave him a knowing look.

"So why are ya _really _splitting them up? You know it would've made more sense to put them together on one job. So what gives?"

Zei didn't even bother trying to lie to him. His fellow Guild members knew him too well. "The Wu Sisters may work great when they're together, but how about when they're apart? I just want to make sure that they're not completely dependent on each other."

"And what if they are?"

"Then we're probably screwed." Jin's jaw dropped. "But don't worry about it. I'm sure they'll pull through."

He walked away after the others, leaving Jin alone. He sighed to himself.

"I hope you're right."


	8. The Big Heist

_Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the continued support, even if I don't have very many reviews so far. But that's okay. If I was in this for the reviews, I would be writing a TiPo fic. :P_

* * *

Chapter 8: The Big Heist

The mayor's house was even more impressive in person than on paper. The large, two-story building was so prestigious that it looked completely out-of-place in the slum that was Jinzhou. The six members of the Thieves' Guild were peering over a stone gate that surrounded the house, going over the plan one last time.

"Is everyone ready?" Hei Zei asked. His fellow thieves all looked at him with expressions ranging from excitement to nervousness, but not one of them backed down. "All right then. Let's give the mayor something to worry about. Wing, Lang, you're up." The pair hopped over the gate and landed in a row of bushes. They started to slowly crawl through the bushes, talking with each other as they did so.

"Alright, so what kind of diversion should we make?" Wing whispered. "Throw a rock or something?"

Lang scoffed. "Please, that's child's play. I knew you were an amateur."

"Hey, I'm not usually the one who comes up with this stuff. What's _your _plan, smart guy?"

"I say we grab a brick outta the wall and nail a guard with it."

"That's the same plan with a different object!"

"It is not! My plan is much more specific! What, did your parents not teach you how to elaborate?"

"Like you're one to talk! What kind of idiot parent names their kid 'wolf'?!"

As they continued to argue, they didn't notice that they were getting much louder than they should have been, nor that they had now crawled out of the bushes in full view of the rhino guards.

"Hey! What's going on over there?!" one of them shouted. He ran over to Wing and Lang and attempted to separate them. Big mistake.

"Mind your own business!" they both yelled as they turned and socked the guard in the stomach. The poor rhino doubled over in pain as more guards started rushing over. Wing and Lang yelped and took off in the other direction with more then half of the house's guards chasing after them.

Zei facepalmed. "Well...I guess _that _works."

Jin shrugged. "Let's face it, that was probably better than anything they could of come up with on purpose."

With their diversion in place, the four remaining thieves circled the perimeter to the back of the house, where only a single guard was currently stationed. "Why am I always the one left behind?" he sighed.

"Wan, Jin, it's your turn," Zei said. The next pair hopped the gate and landed in the bushes just like Wing and Lang, except much quieter. They slowly came out of the bushes and easily snuck around the guard, who was too busy self-depreciating to notice them. They made their way over to the house and started scaling the brick wall with their claws. By the looks of things, all of the windows were locked tight, so they would have to be more creative.

Zei smiled as he watched the two make it onto the multi-inclined roof. "This is going pretty well so far, don't you think?"

Su knew better then to tempt fate. "Just so you know, if anything happens to either of my sisters, I'm going to kill you."

"Yes, I know." Su couldn't tell if he knew she was serious or not.

Just then, they saw Wan lean over the edge of the roof and wave to them, signaling that they had found a way in. "Ladies first," Zei said. Su headed for the wall with Zei close behind her, passing by the depressed guard and up to the roof. They found Wan and Jin grinning like demons as they hunched over a section of the roof.

"We found a loose tile," Jin said. "There's just enough of an opening for you guys to get in."

"Have fun with your boyfriend," Wan giggled, making Jin laugh too. He was lucky that he hadn't made the joke or Su probably would've punched him.

Ignoring the sly smirk Zei shot her, Su pulled up the loose tile and peeked inside. The hallway seemed to be empty, but she could definitely hear voices close by. "Hmm...how close are we in relation to the mayor's office?" Zei tried to envision the floor plans in his head.

"It should be right down that hall, but it won't be easy getting in there. Are you sure you're up for it?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Always."

"Hey, why don't we just come with you , too," Jin suggested. "I mean, we're already here..."

"No," Zei snapped. " The reason we're doing this in small groups is to reduce our chances of getting caught. In fact, you and Wan should get out of here before all those guards come back."

Jin reluctantly nodded and prepared to climb back down, but Wan was a bit more hesitant. "Don't worry, it'll be alright," Su reassured her. Wan smiled and gave Su a quick hug, then followed after Jin.

Once they were alone, Su and Zei headed inside. Dropping straight down to the floor wasn't an option with guards most likely around, so they instead hoisted themselves onto the rafters above the hallway. They were narrow, but not too narrow for a pair of skilled thieves to traverse. As they expected, there were more guards patrolling the area, walking from one end of the hall to the other, and back again. Su almost felt sorry for them. Before tonight, they had likely never been needed before.

Zei soon pointed out the door to the mayor's room, though he really didn't need to. The giant wooden doorway was so heavily decorated that it would take a blind idiot to miss it. Just as they started planning their next move, the door was kicked open and an annoyed antelope stomped out, still dressed in night clothes. They instantly recognized him as Yong, the mayor of Jinzhou.

"What is all that ruckus outside?!" Yong yelled at the nearest guard. "I am _trying_ to get some sleep here!"

"I-I'm sorry, sir," the guard stuttered. "There's these two kids outside causing a scene. We're taking take of it right now."

"See that you do, or I'll have your horn mounted on my wall!" Yong slammed the door in the guard's face.

"Um...y-yes sir," he said to the closed door and went back to his patrol.

"Still not sure about stealing from this guy?" Zei asked.

"I'm disappointed we're just stealing a statue," Su replied.

Zei chuckled and the two stayed on the rafters, watching the hall. They waited a good ten minutes to give Mayor Yong time to fall asleep again before they decided to make their move. As soon as the guards were facing away from the door, they dropped down and quietly slipped inside. They were grateful that Yong didn't keep his door locked, as they weren't sure how fast they could've picked it.

They closed the door behind them and looked around the room. It was just as gaudy on the inside as the out, with all sorts of shiny knickknacks lying on the shelves and walls. The mayor himself was fast asleep on a covered bed several times larger than he needed and concealed by a silk drape. It was clear where most of the city's money went. They scowled at the sleeping antelope, knowing that they were going to enjoy this immensely.

"So where's this statue supposed to be?" Su whispered.

The raccoon started scanning the shelves. "I'm not sure. I only know that he keeps it somewhere in this room." He suddenly thought of something and groaned. "Don't tell me..." Zei gently lifted the drape over Yong's bed and poked his head inside. He came back out and gave Su a blank look.

"He's holding it."

"Of course he is..."

Su looked inside the drape and saw that Zei was understating it. Yong wasn't just holding the statue, he was practically _cuddling _it. Unsurprisingly, the statue was of Yong himself, sculpted into a heroic pose and encrusted with cheap jewelry.

"Well, that's just plain disturbing. So now what?"

"Watch and learn."

Zei walked away for a bit and came back with a small scroll from one of the shelves. He grabbed hold of the statue and delicately pulled it out of Yong's grip while sliding the scroll in its place. Yong continued to cuddle up to the scroll, completely oblivious. Zei held the statue up proudly in Su's face.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, that was pretty good. Now let's get out here."

"Ha ha ha! Catch us if you can, suckers!" a voice shouted from outside, making her cringe.

_Dammit Wing, we don't need the diversion anymore! Shut up!_

"Wha...what's going on...?" Yong grumbled, starting to come to.

Su and Zei quickly climbed up the bedposts and hid themselves on the top just as the mayor fully awoke. It only took him a second to notice his statue was gone and he screamed for his guards. A handful of rhinos charged into the room, looking like they really didn't want to be there.

"We're sorry sir, but we still haven't caught those children yet."

"Forget the children, you imbeciles! There's a bigger problem! Someone ran off with my beautiful custom-made statue!"

"Oh..."

"What do you mean 'Oh'?! This is an emergency!"

While the guards continued to get chewed out, Su and Zei silently decided on a plan. There was no way they were going to sneak out of there with the guards actively looking for them, so their only course of action was to act now, while they still had the element of surprise. The two thieves leapt down from the bed and landed right on top of a guard, knocking him to the ground. Before any of the others had time to react, they booked it out of the room.

"My statue!" Yong screamed, seeing the object clutched in Su's mouth. "Get them!"

Almost immediately, they found themselves dashing down the hall on all fours with a whole swarm of guards on their tails. They were able to easily keep ahead of them as rhinos weren't the fastest animals around, but there sure were a lot of them. And there would only be more on the first floor.

"Zei, this isn't going to work," Su said, her voice muffled by the statue. "They're going to have the front door surrounded. We need an exit_ now_!"

"Already found one," Zei smirked, looking down at the end of the hall.

Su followed his gaze and gasped, nearly dropping the statue. Zei was looking straight at a large window. "Are you crazy?!"

"Su, do you trust me?"

She had to think about that for a moment. She really didn't have much excuse _not _to trust him. Zei and the rest of the Guild had been nothing but hospitable to them since they arrived. She had made a vow to only rely on her sisters, but maybe that was being too close-minded. Maybe they didn't have to be alone anymore.

"Yes," she smiled. "I think I do."

With only the slightest hesitation, Su dropped the statue into her arms and hurled it at the window.

* * *

"Where _are _they?" Wan asked worriedly. She and the other three thieves were back at the gate, anxiously watching the house for any sign of their friends. Wing and Lang had managed to lose the guards, which was bad since they were now back to patrolling the front yard. She couldn't imagine how the others would get past them.

"C'mon guys, relax," Jin said. "This is Hei Zei we're talking about. He'll be fine." Wing and Wan glared at him. "And I'm sure Su's okay too," he added nervously.

Wing was still glaring at him, raising her claws threateningly."She had better be okay, or I'm gonna-"

*CRASH*

All four heads looked up at the sound. Their collective jaws dropped in awe as they saw Su, Zei, and an ugly statue flying through a window, heading right for them. Wing and Wan both opened up their arms and caught Su while Lang and Jin caught their leader. No one bothered to catch the statue, which landed next to them without a head. Even from here, they could hear Mayor Yong shouting threats and curses at them as they ran off.

"You realize he's gonna be cracking down on all the city's thieves now, right?" Lang asked.

Zei didn't seem the least bit concerned. "Hey, at least he'd be doing something for a change. With any luck, he'll start trying to fix the poverty problem to keep more thieves from springing up. And if he doesn't, well, at least we got to piss him off."

Everyone laughed at this except for Su, who was still thinking about the realization she had made earlier. The more she thought about it, the more she was starting to see the Thieves' Guild as a part of their family.

This changed everything.


	9. Changes

_Author's Note: A few things I need to say here. First of all, let me give a shoutout to gordhanx for leaving really awesome reviews on both of my stories. I never realized how meaningful reviews are until I became a writer myself, and ones like that really make my day. Thank you so much!_

_Second of all, this chapter marks the end of the first "arc" of Always Together. As you might guess, this is going to be quite the beast when it's finished. If you're wondering what the second arc is about, the summary should give you a hint. ;)_

_Lastly, the end of this chapter is inspired by a certain scene from "Circling Flames". In fact, this entire first arc is loosely based off of that story. It's what got me interested in the Wu Sisters, so of course I'm going to give some tribute to it._

_Without further adieu, enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 9: Changes

It was amazing how much could change in one day.

Not even one day, one _morning. _In just one morning, Su had gone from disliking the Thieves' Guild to treating them like extended family. It had now been several months since that fateful heist and they seemed to fit in to the Guild better and better by the day. They were originally only planning to stay until they could find somewhere else to live, but Su was starting to seriously consider staying here permanently.

She hardly needed to ask Wan's opinion on the matter. Just seeing the way she played with the other children, and especially Jin, was enough of an indication. And Wing seemed to have at least formed a mutual respect with Lang, if nothing else. She probably wouldn't mind it too much either.

She herself had been getting along especially well with Hei Zei. The Guild leader's tactical mind complimented her own perfectly, and the two often worked together to come up with plans for new heists. Even outside of business, she didn't mind just hanging out with him as friends. Of course, there were rumors floating around the hideout that the two of them were more than just friends, but she paid them no mind.

Still, when Zei asked her to meet him up on the roof on night, she couldn't help but think he was asking her out.

Su climbed out of one of the hideout's windows and pulled herself up onto the roof. Zei was sitting on the other side, legs hanging over the side. The moon reflected nicely off of his fur and dark clothing, making her smile. She had to admit, he _was _kind of attractive, in that "rouge bad boy" kind of way. She stopped smiling once she sat down next to him and got a look at his face. Right away, she could tell that this wasn't going to be just another one of their talks. This was serious.

"So what's this about?"

"It's about Wan," Zei said, surprising her. He seemed hesitant to continue. "...She told me about the incident with Hao."

Su winced. That was an incident she was hoping to never think about again. Frankly, she was surprised that Wan was comfortable enough to bring it up."What about it?"

"I have to give you a warning," he said sternly. "You need to keep a very close eye on her."

Now she was worried. "Of course. But why?"

"She may seem okay now, but she isn't. Not after that. Taking the life of another is something that changes a person forever. Once they do it once, it becomes easy to do it again. And the more they do it, the more they lose themselves. Eventually, they come to relish the pain and suffering of their victims."

Su was completely disgusted. "Who could _relish _pain and suffering?"

"You'd be surprised. Just...watch out for her, alright?"

She shifted uncomfortably. Zei seemed like he knew what he was talking about, possibly from personal experience. Perhaps he had witnessed someone going through this before. But she couldn't imagine cheerful, bubbly Wan ever becoming a cold-blooded killer. They had all agreed that they would kill to protect each other, but enjoy it? Never.

"Alright, I will. But I really don't think that's going to be a problem." She said this almost jokingly.

Zei wasn't amused. "Maybe, maybe not."

"Is that all?" Su asked, wanting to get off this topic. "I should get back to my sisters." She got up to leave.

"Wait, hold on. I don't want to end off on such a sour note. Is there anything else you want to talk about?" He smiled.

Su sat back down and smiled back. "Sure."

For quite a while longer, the two stayed up on the roof, chatting the night away. They talked about their families, their goals and dreams, anything a pair of good friends would talk about. In more familiar territory, Zei suggested a new heist on a farmer's market that had just opened up. They only got halfway through making a plan when Su suddenly yawned.

"Okay, I should really get to bed now."

Zei laughed. "I guess some of us aren't born to be nocturnal. Good night, Su."

"Good night."

* * *

Zei stayed behind as Su headed back inside the hideout. She perched herself on top of one of the taller crates and looked around. Most of the Guild was asleep already, including her sisters, making her realize just how late it really was. Despite this, she didn't think she could sleep yet. There was too much on her mind.

She was surprised by how easily she had shared such personal information with Zei. That was the kind of stuff she usually only talked about with her sisters. Oddly, she found that she didn't regret it in the slightest. _I really have changed, haven't I?_

The story of the Wu Sisters would have turned out very differently had Su just gone to bed now. Instead, she caught sight of Zei passing by below her. He was approached by Lang and Jin, who had probably stayed up so late just to tease their boss, judging by the looks on their faces. From her position on top of the crate, they didn't notice her.

"So how was your date?" Jin asked cheekily.

Zei kept a straight face. "It wasn't a date. I just wanted to talk to her about something."

"Suuuurrreee you did," Lang winked. "For about three hours. So how was it?"

He gave an exasperated sigh. "It was fine. And that's all you're getting from me." They both groaned in disappointment.

Su realized that she was eavesdropping on a private conversation and was about to leave when Jin's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Do you think she suspects anything?"

Zei looked just as confused as her, but for a different reason. "No. Why would she?"

"I mean, she's really smart, right? Like you. Maybe she could have pieced things together. Or maybe Lang left some kind of evidence behind when he torched their house."

"I did no such thing! Do you think I'm some kind of amateur?!"

Jin cowered. "No, no, of course not. Sorry."

"Enough,"Zei said with a harsh whisper. "We're not talking about this anymore. We've got them on our side now, and that's all that matters. Now let's get some sleep." With that, he headed off to bed, Lang and Jin trailing behind him.

Su had unsheathed her claws, digging them deep into the wood. Suddenly, it all made sense to her. The Thieves' Guild wanted, more than anything else, to recruit new members that could reap them better profits. They had tried to bring in the sisters once before and failed. What better way to get them to join then to leave them no other choice?

She clenched her fists, driving her claws into her pads. Even Zei's little sob story about stealing from the mayor she was starting to question. They had never once done anything like that again and Zei didn't talk about it very much for such a big accomplishment. Was that entire mission concocted just to buy their sympathy?

_Those manipulative, two-faced, BASTARDS!_

Her fists were now clenched so hard that she was beginning to draw blood. It took every ounce of her self-restraint not to go out and rip them to shreds right there. It wouldn't be wise to let on that she knew. No, she had a better idea.

Su reached up and wiped a small tear from her eye, then slipped away into the shadows.

* * *

It was only about twenty minutes later when Su decided to enact her plan. She knew that she was at the height of her emotions and not thinking rationally, but she feared that if she didn't do this now, she would lose her resolve. After making sure that everyone else was asleep, she quietly slipped out of bed and made for one of the Guild's storage areas with no one the wiser. They had taught her well. Now she was going to use that against them.

After getting what she needed, she completed her work and went back to their crate. She looked down at her sleeping sisters anxiously. How were they going to feel about this? Would they understand what she had done for them? Su shook those thoughts from her head. That didn't matter right now. It was too late to change her mind.

"Wing...Wan...wake up," she whispered.

Wan was the first to awaken. "Su? What's...?" Su clamped a paw over her mouth.

"Stay quiet. We have to leave. Now."

Now Wing was up too. "What? Why?"

"Just trust me." And they did. Without having any idea why, they quickly got themselves out of bed and followed Su out of the hideout, through the window. As soon as they touched ground, Su started walking down the city street at such a fast pace that her sisters had trouble keeping up with her.

"_Now _will you tell us what's going on?" Wing asked, understandably cranky.

Su sighed. She would have to tell them eventually. "They lied to us."

"Who?"

"The Thieves' Guild. They're the ones who burned our house down. They've been playing us for fools this whole time."

Wan gasped. "That can't be true! Jin would never-"

"Jin was in on it too. Remember, he's the one who fed us that crap about the Imperial Army doing it." She felt guilty about being so blunt, but it was for her own good.

"No...I don't..." Wan was about to deny the accusation, but stopped. She knew that Su would never lie to her. She shut her eyes and started crying silently to herself.

Wing was staring down at the ground. "I should've known we couldn't trust them. It was too good to be true." She looked back up at Su with rage burning in her eyes. "Don't tell me we're just going to run away! Let's go back there and kick their lying butts!"

Su's ears twitched as she picked up some distant sounds. She smirked. "Oh, don't worry. Our vengeance is already on its way." Before they could ask what she meant, they heard the sounds too. They were the sounds of frantic screaming, coming from directly behind them. They hesitantly turned around, gasping in horror at what they saw.

The hideout was on fire.

Su stared at the burning warehouse in satisfaction. It was a simple plan. Using some spare oil and flint "provided" by the Guild, she had started a small fire at the edge of the hideout. With all the dry wood stored in the place, that small fire had quickly turned into a blazing inferno. She even took the time to break the lock on the front door, to keep it from opening.

Wing and Wan watched from a distance, frozen in terror as the building continued to burn and the screams of the Thieves' Guild grew louder and more desperate. The screams soon stopped altogether and the only sound they could hear was the crackling of the flames. The only thing they found more horrifying than the scene in front of them was the look on their sister's face. Never before had they seen the icy cold gaze in her eyes or the cruel, sadistic grin on her face. She was like a totally different person.

"...What _happened_ to you?" Wing finally managed to ask.

"I had a revelation," she replied. Even her tone was dark and unfamiliar. "I thought that by staying with the Thieves' Guild, we wouldn't have to be alone anymore. Now I know that I was wrong for wanting that. We have always been alone and that is how we must remain. We can't afford to trust anyone else." There was a loud crash from behind them and they were only vaguely aware that the hideout had just collapsed. "Now let's go."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere but here."

Su turned around and walked away, casually checking her claws. For the first time in their lives, Wing and Wan were afraid of their sister.

But they followed her anyway.


	10. A New Opportunity

_Author's Note: So begins the second arc. Expect a lot more action from this point forth._

* * *

Chapter 10: A New Opportunity

The Wu Sisters had found themselves in a rather dire spot after the incident with the Thieves' Guild.

There was a silent agreement between them not to discuss that incident again, but it was hard to forget when Su herself was a constant reminder. The eldest sister had never been the same since that night. She had always been calm and reserved, but it was still easy to tell what she was feeling. Now she seemed downright emotionless. There was no doubt that she still cared about her sisters, but Wing and Wan found that they couldn't get over what she had done. They had both wanted to get back at the Guild for tricking them, but they still considered them friends on some level. And Su had murdered them in cold blood. The thought that she could do something like this again terrified them.

What they didn't know, is that while Su didn't show it on the surface, she was feeling immensely guilty inside. Not about killing the Guild, no they could rot in hell for all she cared. But had she known that her sisters would be so hurt by her actions, she never would have lit that fire. She hadn't considered their feelings until it was too late and now she was paying the price. Although they were still together, she knew that a rift had formed between them, and she wasn't sure it could be fixed.

It had been a reckless move on her part, as was skipping town without food or any idea where they were going. Now they were wandering aimlessly along a dirt road, desperately hoping to find another town before they starved to death. They had come across some stray berries over the past couple days, but those couldn't last them forever.

Finally, some good luck literally crossed their path.

A strange traveler passed them on the dirt road, heading in the opposite direction. He was dressed in green robes and wore a wide rice hat that concealed his eyes. He appeared to be an elderly tortoise of some sort, even carrying a walking stick with him. Immediately, the sisters ducked behind a nearby rock and fell back into their old habits.

"Do you think he has anything good on him?" Wing asked.

"Only one way to find out," Wan smiled. "Now how should we distract him? The old 'sad girl' routine?"

"We need no distraction," Su said. "He is alone and armed with nothing more than a stick. We should just pop out and scare him into compliance."

"Good idea. Let's go for it." Su was ecstatic. The rift between the sisters had been forgotten for the moment and now they were about to pull off a heist together again.

_Just the three of us. Exactly as it should be._

Unfortunately, they never got that chance. A group of crocodile bandits suddenly emerged from the surrounding forest and blocked the tortoise's path. The leader of the group brandished a large sword at him. "Hold up there, old timer. You ain't passing until you give us all the money you've got on ya."

Su inwardly swore. These bandits had the worst timing.

The tortoise looked strangely calm for a guy who was about to get robbed "I am sorry, but I have no money. All I have is the clothes off my back."

"Yeah? Well, those clothes are looking pretty fancy. We'd probably make some good cash by selling em'. We'll just take those then."

"Again, I am sorry, but these are sacred robes. I cannot give them up." The sisters were balking at him from behind the rock. Was this guy crazy? Didn't he understand how much danger he was in?

The bandit leader seemed to have the same thought as he glared at him menacingly. "Have it your way. We don't normally like to beat up old guys, but I think we'll make an exception for you." The crocs slowly advanced upon the tortoise, baring their teeth and weapons at him.

"Well, _this_ is going to be one-sided," Wing said.

She was right.

The instant one of the crocs took a swing at him, the tortoise sidestepped the blow and struck him in the back. The croc landed hard on the ground and didn't get back up again. The rest of the crocs, as well as the three sisters, were all dumbfounded. Even Su couldn't keep the look of shock off of her face. She was suddenly _very _glad that the bandits had shown up when they did.

The leader took a moment to regain his composure. "Get him!" he shouted. The rest of the group all rushed the tortoise, who didn't seem the least bit worried. And for good reason, as he continued to throw punches and kicks left and right, tossing the crocs aside with little difficulty. Then he started using his stick, which served as both a weapon and a shield. At one point, they could've sworn he was even balancing on top of the thing. "You think you're so tough, do ya?" the leader growled. "Eat this!" He swung his sword at what he thought was the tortoise's unprotected back, but the blade snapped in two on his shell. The sisters weren't very well-educated, but even they knew that tortoise shells weren't supposed to be that hard. The leader had just enough time to gape at him before the tortoise jabbed him in the chest several times and he fell to the ground.

In less then a minute, the entire group was left lying in a big pile, while the tortoise didn't have a scratch on him. To say that the sisters were in complete awe would be an understatement. Never had they seen _anyone _move like that, let alone one of the slowest animals in existence. "You three can come out now. It's safe." They stiffened. They had been expert thieves for over a year. How the heck had he noticed them?

Not wanting to anger a guy who could take out a group of bandits single-handily, they came out of hiding and approached him. They were all a bit nervous, knowing that they didn't stand a chance against this guy if he meant them harm. Their fears seemed unwarranted though, as he just looked at them curiously. "Hello there. My name is Oogway. What are your names, little ones?"

He sounded friendly, but they remained on-edge. "My name is Su Wu, and these are my sisters Wing and Wan."

They couldn't help but glance back and forth between Oogway and the pile of bandits, as their minds struggled to make sense of what had just happened. He quickly took notice.

"You liked that didn't you?"

They all nodded their heads.

"Do you know what that was?"

They all shook their heads.

Oogway chuckled. "That was a martial art known as kung fu. It means 'excellence of self'".

"I'll say it was excellent. You were _awesome!" _Wan yelled excitedly. She at least, seemed to have warmed up to him.

Oogway leaned in close to the sisters and looked them over. He spent a long time just staring at them, paying particular attention to Su. She was about to tell him to knock it off when he finally spoke. "How old are you?"

They looked at each other in confusion. None of them had ever bothered to keep track. Su did the math in her head, grateful that their parents had at least taught them how to count. "I'm...twelve, which would make Wing eleven and Wan nine."

"You have been through much hardship for such young children," Oogway said, shaking his head sadly. "And I sense that you are going through more hardship even now."

"No fooling," Wing muttered, crossing her arms. "What do you think _you _can do about it?"

"Plenty, if you'll allow me."

"What do you mean?" Su asked warily.

Oogway brought his head down to stare at her again. He really needed to stop doing that. "Kung fu is not only a method of self-defense, but also of balance and tranquility. I can teach you to harness its secrets and better yourselves, both physically and mentally."

"Hold on a minute. You're saying you can teach us to do _that?_" She pointed over to the bandit pile.

"I am."

Her eyes narrowed. "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch. Except that you must stay with me in my home at the Jade Palace for your training."

"Yep, there it is," Wing said.

"Can we talk about this for a moment?" Su asked. Once again, she gestured to her sisters to follow her away from Oogway.

"So what do you think?" Wing asked.

"I think we should go for it," Su said, shocking both of them.

"Really? What happened to not trusting anyone else?" Su didn't miss her accusatory tone.

"Who says we have to trust him? We'll just learn this 'kung fu' of his, then cut and run. Think of how how much better off we'll be if we can fight like that."

Wing didn't need much convincing. "Yeah, I'm all for kicking more butt. I'm in."

Wan was again the last hold-out. "I don't know. What if he tries something funny?" Su noticed a slight nervousness in her voice, as if she was afraid to speak against her opinion. That thought caused another wave of guilt to wash over her, but she managed to hide it.

"We'll just have to keep a better eye out this time." Wan didn't argue that and again, Su got the feeling she was just afraid to.

She sighed. "Very well." They went back over to Oogway. "Alright, we'll come with you. But if we catch the slightest whiff of _anything_ suspicious, we're gone! Got it?"

Oogway remained as calm as ever. He actually reminded Su of herself a little, but on the opposite end of the spectrum. "Understood." Without another word, he continued on his path, which was apparently the way to this "Jade Palace" of his. The Wu Sisters followed after him, with Su glaring at the back of Oogway's head.

_Just try something, I dare you. I don't care how good you are, if I need to protect my sisters from you, I will!_


	11. The Jade Palace

_Author's Note: Yes, I went there. I noticed that Oogway seemed pretty knowledgeable about the Wu Sisters in the short, so I thought "Hey, why not make him their former master?" I don't think it's too much of a stretch._

_This isn't the longest chapter or the most exciting, but it had to be made._

* * *

Chapter 11: The Jade Palace

For someone who could move faster than lightning in battle, Oogway sure was slow outside of it.

The Wu Sisters had a feeling that they could of reached this "Jade Palace" days ago if not for their escort's pace. Su wondered if this was a test of their patience to see if they were worthy; if they didn't try to kill him, they passed.

On the bright side, the tortoise had made sure that they were well taken care of. They stopped in every town they passed to eat and stay for the night, giving the sisters some of the best food and sleep they had ever gotten. Oddly, even though he didn't carry any money, he was able to get all of this accommodation just by telling the owners that he would pay them later. They couldn't think of a single shopkeeper that would ever accept that, yet every one of them did. Most of them even offered to serve him free of charge, calling him "Master" Oogway. Was he some kind of noble or something? He sure didn't act like one.

It took them about a week to finally reach their destination, or rather, the village that it was housed in. Oogway called it the Valley of Peace, which made Wan smile and Su and Wing roll their eyes. But to their surprise, the place lived up to its name. The Valley was a community unlike any they had ever seen. There were no run-down buildings, no shady alleyways, no sign of criminal activity anywhere. It was just a haven of various pigs, geese, and bunnies, going about their daily lives. The villagers smiled and waved to the cubs as they passed, a far cry from the distrustful glares they tended to get back in Jinzhou. It almost seemed too good to be true.

But it was nothing compared to the Jade Palace, which they had assumed was only a name until they actually saw it. The towering building was so magnificent, it made Mayor Yong's house look like their old cabin. They saw the sun beginning to set and thought that they might be able to make it there before nightfall. At least, until they saw the massive staircase leading up to it.

"Welcome to your new home," Oogway said to the three cubs, who were currently catching their breath after the long climb.

"Did you..._have_...to build this...on top of a mountain?" Wing gasped.

"Yes."

He waited a few moments for them to recover before he continued. "Now, allow me to give you a quick tour. This room is known as the Hall of Warriors. It is where we keep our collection of kung fu artifacts from all across China. It also contains the thousand scrolls of kung fu, which you will all be learning from." It was then that he realized they weren't paying attention to him. As soon as they had been able to get a good look at the room, they had become mesmerized by the artifacts. Instead of getting angry as most people would, Oogway just smiled. It had been a while since he had trained children and he had forgotten how curious they could be.

"Moving on," he said. The sisters snapped out of their daze and followed him into a long wooden hallway with a row of small rooms on each side. "These are the student barracks. They will be your sleeping quarters."

Wan peeked inside one of the rooms and frowned. "A little barren, aren't they?"

"I think you'll find that they will be enough."

She took another look at the room, completely empty except for a single cot. "If you say so..."

Oogway led them further down the hallway, briefly stopping to show them the kitchen and dining area, before he got to what was definitely the most memorable room, the training hall.

The sisters stood completely still, jaws hanging open as they looked upon the large, and very dangerous training equipment in front of them. They had never seen so many spikes in one place.

"You don't seriously expect us to go through _that_, do you?" Su asked uneasily.

"No. Not yet." Somehow, that didn't make them feel any better.

"Master Oogway?" a new voice asked.

Oogway and the sisters turned around to see two people walking into the training hall behind them.

The first was a diminutive red panda dressed in red robes with white and brown fur. He was looking warily at the three of them with a serious expression.

Standing next to him, only slightly taller, was a snow leopard cub. The cub wore purple pants and no shirt, with a pair of golden eyes not unlike their own. He looked more confused than anything else.

"Master Oogway," the red panda repeated. "I see you are back from your trip across China, much sooner than I expected." He turned his attention to the three cubs. "And who would these be?"

"Ah Shifu, let me introduce you to my new students, Su, Wing, and Wan Wu." Both of the newcomers looked surprised at this statement. Oogway ignored this and looked back at the sisters. "This is Master Shifu and his own student Tai Lung. They are training, much like we will be."

Wan bounded up to Tai Lung with a big grin on her face. "Hi, I'm Wan! It's nice to meet you."

Tai Lung crossed his arms and scoffed. "Girls shouldn't learn kung fu."

With that one statement, it became clear that they would _not _be friends. Su had to physically restrain Wing from attacking him right there, even though she wanted to hurt him herself. He had insulted all of them and, moreover, he had hurt Wan's feelings.

Shifu reached up and smacked Tai Lung across the back of the head, scolding him for his rudeness. He then turned to face Master Oogway. "Master, may I speak to you in private?" Oogway glanced between Tai Lung and the violently struggling Wing, then back at Shifu. He got the message. "Tai Lung, I want you to mediate at the Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom until dinnertime."

"But I'm supposed to be using the training hall now!" he whined.

"That's an order, Tai Lung!"

"...Yes, Master," the snow leopard stopped to shoot a quick glare at the sisters and left the room. Once he felt safe leaving them alone, Oogway told them to wait in the training hall and followed Shifu out.

* * *

"What would you like to speak about, old friend?" Oogway asked, as Shifu led him back into the Hall of Warriors. He knew the answer of course, but it was always polite to ask.

"It's these new students of yours. How exactly did you come across them?" Oogway told him the story of how he had met the Wu Sisters while traveling on a country road, and after a brief chat, had taken them on as students. Shifu inwardly sighed. Only Master Oogway would take on new students five minutes after meeting them. He was always unconventional like that.

"I don't mean to question your judgment Master, but what is it that you see in those three?"

"I can see many things. Sadness, anger, fear..." Oogway trailed off as he slowly paced around the room. "I believe that those three have the potential to become great masters if they can learn to overcome those obstacles and fight as one. That is why I felt the need to help them."

Shifu wondered how his master had gotten so much from a simple conversation. Oogway claimed that he wasn't a mind-reader, but he found that hard to believe sometimes. "Isn't that a bit risky?"

Oogway gave him a calm, but firm look. "Perhaps, but that is not your concern. You have your own student to look after."

He realized he had crossed a line. "I'm sorry, Master. That is all." Shifu bowed in respect and left Oogway to his new charges. As much as he wanted to trust his master's judgment, there was still some doubt in his eyes.

* * *

Oogway decided against starting the sisters' training right away. He wanted to give them some time to adjust to their new surroundings first. Besides, after that walk up the Palace stairs and the incident with Tai Lung, the least they deserved was a good night's rest.

They felt the same way, turning down dinner in favor of getting to sleep as soon as possible. As Oogway led them back into the student barracks, Su immediately noticed that they had separate rooms, albeit right next to each other. This was the first time they would be sleeping separately, yet Wing and Wan didn't object to it, and she knew it was because of her.

"Good night, girls," Oogway called out gently. "Sleep well. Your training begins tomorrow."

Su curled up on her cot and tried to get some sleep, thinking that this training had better be worth it.


	12. The First Day

_Author's Note: Bit of a warning for Tai Lung fans: you're probably not going to like him very much in this story. Remember that as far as he's concerned, he IS the Dragon Warrior, so I imagine that would make him quite snobby and arrogant towards anyone training with him, especially as a cub._

_Also, let me know what you think of Oogway. I find him a pretty difficult character to write, so I'd like to know if I'm doing a decent job._

* * *

Chapter 12: The First Day

Master Shifu stood in the student barracks, patiently waiting for the morning gong to ring. It was the same thing he had done every morning since he had adopted Tai Lung. Only there was one big difference this time. Tai Lung was no longer alone.

The gong sounded through the Jade Palace, and a second later, Tai Lung was out of his room and standing in the hallway, eyes straight ahead and paws clasped behind his back. "Good morning, Master." he greeted. Shifu nodded in acknowledgment and waited to see if three more figures would come out of their rooms. They did not.

Tai Lung smirked. "Looks like the ladies haven't learned the morning protocol yet." Shifu stared at the three rooms, wondering if he should go wake them up. As Master Oogway had pointed out, they were technically not his responsibility.

Come to think of it, where _was _Master Oogway?

He didn't get to ponder either of these questions for very long as Tai Lung walked up to one of the rooms and pulled it open. "Wakey wakey," he said mockingly. Shifu was about to reprimand him again when he saw the confused look on the snow leopard's face. Shifu peered over his shoulder and saw that the room was completely empty. Odd, he could've sworn one of them was supposed to be sleeping here. He went to the adjacent room and opened it. Also empty. What was going on here?

A loud giggle from the dining area caught their attention. Master and student rushed into the room and found the Wu Sisters casually enjoying a breakfast of steamed buns and tea. Wan was the first to notice them. "Oh, good morning!" Shifu was able to keep the shock off of his face.

Tai Lung was not."What...but..._how?!" _

Wing shrugged. "We've been getting up an hour earlier than this for a while now. We got used to it." She said this like it was no big deal, but was clearly enjoying taunting him. Tai Lung walked over and sat on the other end of the table for his own breakfast, pouting all the while. He hated to be one-upped in anything, even something as trivial as getting up early.

Shifu took this time to get another look at Oogway's new students. During his brief meeting with them last night, he had gotten an idea of what they were like, but not much. The youngest sister was perky and cheerful while the middle sister was spiteful and had a violent temper. That much he could see even today. But it was the eldest sister that really perplexed him. She was a total enigma, barely showing a hint of emotion as she calmly ate her breakfast. He couldn't read her at all and that unnerved him greatly. The creepy eyes didn't help.

"I see you've all made it," Oogway said from behind, startling him. He was always amazed that his master could still sneak up on him after all these years. "Surprised to see that the girls are so punctual, Shifu?"

Shifu looked back over at the table, where Wing and Tai Lung had started some kind of eating contest. "You could say that."

He resisted the urge to question his master on how he was going to train the sisters, having already questioned him too much for his liking, but he was definitely curious. One thing was for certain, these weren't ordinary students.

* * *

After breakfast, Master Oogway called the sisters out to a small courtyard to begin their training. The courtyard was set up like an arena and filled with various weapon racks, making them very excited to begin their training.

Unfortunately for them, Oogway had other ideas.

The first hour was spent on mediation. Oogway sat in a lotus position on the floor with the sisters doing the same across from him. They were instructed to "clear their minds" and "reflect upon themselves", concepts that Su barely understood, let alone the other two. Most of the time was spent just figuring how to breathe correctly.

Next, Oogway started leading them through a series of long and _very _slow movements. The tortoise called it "tai chi", but they didn't really care what it was called. After doing it for another two hours, they just wanted it to stop.

Then they started practicing kung fu forms. At this point, they felt like Oogway was just mocking them.

"Is all of this really necessary?" Wing finally asked, struggling to keep her temper in check.

"Of course," Oogway replied, in the middle of a tiger stance. "You can't build a castle without laying the foundation."

"What?"

"He means that we can't learn kung fu until we are prepared to handle it," Su translated.

"We're totally prepared!" Wing argued. "We've had plenty of experience fending for ourselves already. I think it's about time we learned how to fight!"

Su frowned. Unlike Wing, she could see the value in these exercises, but she stopped herself from arguing the point. She didn't want her sisters growing any more distant from her.

"Very well," Oogway said, surprising them. "If you think you are ready, then I will give you the chance to prove it. Follow me." Oogway started walking away and the sisters followed after him, uneasy.

* * *

Oogway brought them back into the training hall, making sure that they would not overlap with Shifu and Tai Lung's training schedule again. The sisters feared that he was going to punish them for their insolence by putting them on the obstacle course, but he assured them that that was not the case.

Instead, he pulled out a large training dummy. It was designed to resemble a bandit, with a big, goofy smile painted onto its face. "This is the Adversary," he explained. "It is the first challenge any student of the Jade Palace must face. I want each of you to come up and demonstrate your ability by hitting the Adversary."

Wing took one look at the dummy and burst out laughing. "You're joking, right?"

Oogway smiled. "If you think it is so simple, then you may go first."

"No problem." Wing cracked her knuckles and stepped up to face the Adversary. She took a deep breath, brought her fist back, and punched the dummy right in the jaw. It swung way back from the force of the blow.

"Gotcha!"

Then it swung forward again and nailed her in the face.

Oogway looked down at Wing, clutching her sore nose, and chuckled. "It was a powerful blow, that much is certain."

Su went up next, aiming to learn from Wing's mistake. Clearly, there was more to this than they thought. The Adversary was like any living opponent; getting the best of it wasn't just a matter of strength. Su spent a while just looking the dummy up and down until she finally decided on a plan of attack. Leaning back, she brought her leg up and kicked the Adversary in what passed as its chin. The blow was not as strong as Wing's, but was much more effective, knocking the dummy a good two feet back.

"I see Su has figured it out," Oogway nodded.

"May I try again?" asked Wing. "I think I got it this time."

"Does the young chick have only one chance to break out of its shell?"

"...What?"

"Yes, you may try again."

Wing walked up to the Adversary and pulled her fist back once more. She gave a loud growl and threw the punch, this time at the dummy's midsection. It flew back several feet, far surpassing Su's distance. She dragged the Adversary back into position, shooting a "thanks" to Su as she did so. Though she turned away before she could see it, there was a small smile on her sister's face.

Wan gulped, realizing that she was up next. She didn't have Wing's strength or Su's smarts. How was she supposed to replicate what they had done? She couldn't.

She was staring down the Adversary nervously when an idea came to her. If she couldn't do it the same way, then she would just have to do it a different way.

Wan faced the Adversary and slowly started stepping away from it. Both her sisters and Oogway watched her curiously, wondering what she was up to. Wan stopped just before she reached the wall and charged forward. Picking up momentum as she drew closer, she managed to pull off a flying kick and struck the Adversary in its chest. It skidded to a stop just short of Wing's distance.

"Good work, all of you," Oogway praised as the sisters cheered for each others' success. Their attacks were flawed and unrefined, though still impressive for ones without formal training, but that was not the point of this exercise. The point was to confirm what he suspected about the sisters' individual strengths. Wing was the strongest, Wan was the swiftest, and Su was the most tactical. The combination of these skills could make them a real force to be reckoned with once they learned how to fight as one.

There was just one more test he needed to try first. "Now, I want all of you to attack the Adversary together." All three sisters stared at him in confusion.

"You mean like...at the same time?" Wan asked.

Oogway shook his head. "Not quite. Pretend that it is a real enemy and combine your strengths to 'defeat' it." The sisters seemed to understand and spread themselves out around the Adversary, surrounding it from three sides.

Su looked around at her sisters as they faced the Adversary. "Alright, Wing will attack first, and we'll pass it around to each other in a circle." This was just like one of their heists, only with a different goal in mind. It would be easy.

...Right?

A few months ago, she would have had no doubts, but it had been a good while since they had last done a heist together. And this was _before__..._that night.

Wing made the first attack on the Adversary, hitting it with a punch that sent the dummy towards Su. She called out to Wan and kicked it to her, hoping to continue the cycle.

The plan went wrong almost immediately.

Wan, still nervous around her older sister, hesitated for just a second too long. The dummy plowed right into her and knocked her to the ground. Wing rushed over to help her, not seeing the dummy swing back in her direction until it was too late, and she too was knocked over. Su, irrationally angered by an inanimate object, attempted to repeat her earlier success and kicked the Adversary in the chin. In her haste, however, she got the angle slightly wrong and the dummy flew straight up into the air. Her momentum carried her forward and it came back down right on top of her.

And thus, the Wu Sisters had been defeated by a training dummy.

Oogway sighed and brought a clawed hand up to his face. This wasn't normal, that much he could tell. Whatever this rift was that had formed between the sisters, it was clearly going to be a severe detriment to their training.

Before anything else, it needed to be resolved.


	13. Mending the Rift

_Author's Note: Most of this chapter is from Oogway's point of view. I've tried to avoid that since I feel it takes away from his mysterious character, but it was the best way for me to write this. I hope he doesn't come off as too OOC._

* * *

Chapter 13: Mending the Rift

For the next few weeks, the Wu Sisters did nothing but meditation, tai chi, and kung fu forms. None of them dared to complain about this again, not after the humiliation they had suffered from the Adversary. They were just thankful that Master Oogway, as they had gotten used to calling him, had kept that little embarrassment a secret. They would probably never live it down if Tai Lung found out.

Speaking of which...

"How ya doing ladies?" the snow leopard smirked, leaning casually against the outer wall. Master Oogway had decided to let them practice on their own for a while, which they found a refreshing change of pace. Until now. "Still not doing any real kung fu yet, huh? Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get there someday. You know, if your fragile little bodies can handle it."

"Don't you have training to do?" Wing growled.

"Master Shifu gave me a little time off. Unlike you, I don't _need_ constant training to stay in shape." He stopped to dodge the sandal Wing threw at his head. "Nice try." Tai Lung laughed and scurried out of sight.

"I _really _hate that guy," Su said. Wing and Wan nodded in agreement.

Master Oogway returned to his students moments later. He was pleased to see that they were still doing their forms as he left them, though he did wonder why Wing was partially barefoot now.

"I see you have all been hard at practice while I was gone," he said. "Now there is something different I would like to try." They looked at him curiously and Oogway braced himself, knowing they were not going to like this. "I want to do a small session with each of you separately."

He hated the fact that he had to split them up. It went against the entire goal of his training. But he knew that if he was going to resolve their problem, he would have much better luck working with them separately.

"Why?" Su asked. He noticed that she was the only one who seemed to mind.

"I want to get a better understanding of you individually." Technically, it wasn't a lie.

Su seemed to accept this, or at least, couldn't come up with an objection. So far, this had gone better than he expected.

Now for the hard part.

* * *

Wing was the first to be called in. The middle sister was surprisingly calm as Oogway instructed her to go through one of their tai chi routines. Of course, that changed instantly once he decided to get to the real reason she was here. "How is your relationship with your sisters, Wing?"

Wing froze right in the middle of the routine. Shame, she was doing so well. "What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I have noticed an imbalance between the three of you," Oogway replied. "I want to correct that imbalance in order to help you." He hoped that by coming off as friendly and concerned, he could get her to open up.

It didn't work. "Look, we appreciate you taking us in and all, but our family matters are _none of your business!" _Without waiting to be dismissed, Wing turned and stormed out of the room. If there was a door, she would've slammed it.

Oogway frowned. He couldn't say he was surprised by this outcome, but he was still disappointed. Hopefully, he would have better luck with Wan.

* * *

He did, in the sense that Wan didn't yell at him, but that was about it.

The youngest sister came into the room nervously, but quickly relaxed once he told her to begin. Tai chi tended to have that effect on people, which made it a good tool for this kind of therapy. For that reason, he waited until she finished the routine this time before bringing up the topic. Besides, if he was going to tell them that he was studying their technique, then he might as well actually do it. "Excellent work, Wan," he said as she finished up.

Wan grinned and bowed to him. "Thank you, Master Oogway." Again, he felt guilty that he would have to ruin her good mood. He really wished there was a more delicate way to put this.

"I sense an imbalance between you and your sisters. Is there something going on?"

Just like Wing, Wan froze up on the spot, though she looked frightened rather than angry. "N-No! Nothing at all! Things are just great with me and Wing..."

"What about Su?"

Wan tensed up even more. "Well...uh..." Oogway waited patiently for an answer.

But he didn't get one. "Master Oogway...may I leave now?" He didn't have the heart to make her stay. And he had the feeling that it wouldn't get him anywhere regardless.

"Yes Wan, you may leave." She bowed again and wasted no time in taking off.

Oogway was starting to get worried, something that didn't happen to him often. Two sisters down and he still knew almost nothing about the situation or how to fix it. But there was one thing he now knew for sure.

Whatever was plaguing the sisters, Su was at the center of it.

* * *

By the time the eldest sister's turn came up, she knew something was off about this. Wing and Wan had both come out of their sessions looking greatly troubled and completely avoiding eye contact with her. So when Oogway brought her into the training hall and asked her to start going through a tai chi routine, she didn't even bother playing along.

"Cut the crap. I saw what Wing and Wan looked like when they came out of here. I know this is more than just some training session."

Most masters would chastise or punish their student for such blatant disrespect, but Oogway was not most masters. "Alright then. You may just sit down if you wish." She did, plopping herself down across from Oogway and staring him down.

"Care to tell me what this is really about?"

Oogway was actually a bit relieved. At least he didn't have to drop a bomb on her this time. "What is going on between you and your sisters?"

She didn't react like he expected her too. In fact, she didn't react at all. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said blankly.

"I sense a serious imbalance between you three. If I am going to train you properly, it needs to be resolved. You want that too, do you not?" On the outside, Su still didn't give the slightest reaction.

On the inside, an internal conflict was being waged as two sides of her battled for dominance. One was her suspicion and distrust of all strangers that had developed after the Thieves' Guild incident. The other was her desire to restore the bond that had been broken with her sisters. Ultimately, the latter won out. This had gone on far too long already and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. She needed to fix this, even if it meant trusting someone else again.

Oogway watched Su's calm demeanor melt away, replaced with one that was much more timid. "There was...an incident...a while back. We trusted some people that we shouldn't have and I took...extreme measures to deal with them. Now my sisters don't trust me anymore. They're...afraid of me." Su felt uncomfortably vulnerable, pulling her legs close to her chest.

Oogway knew better then to ask more about this "incident". He skipped straight to the part that really mattered. "Do you wish to change that?"

"Of course."

"Then why do you hide these feelings from them?"

"Because..." Su was clearly forcing herself to continue. "Because I'm supposed to be their leader. Their protector. I can't be showing any weakness around them. Not after all that's happened. They need me to be strong."

"It is not weakness to show your emotions," Oogway said sternly. He had heard this kind of thing far too often. "How are your sisters supposed to rely on you if they don't trust you? How are they supposed to trust you if they can't tell what you're feeling? How are they supposed to tell what you're feeling if you don't show them?"

For a long time, Su was completely silent.

* * *

Wing and Wan weren't sure what to expect when Su came out of her little "session" with Oogway. One thing they certainly _weren't _expecting to see was an expression of pure sorrow on her face. They had nearly forgotten what her emotions looked like, so they were completely caught off-guard seeing so much of it at once.

Before they could get over this shock, they got another one when Su suddenly wrapped them both into a hug. "I'm sorry," she said, barely above a whisper. Wing and Wan looked at each other, silently wondering what had happened in there. They quickly decided that it didn't matter and hugged Su back, knowing that she was truly their sister once more. Their bond, once broken and in danger of collapsing completely, was now stronger than ever.

Master Oogway watched the whole thing from afar with a smile. He had succeeded in mending the rift. Now it was time for the real training to begin.


	14. Fighting as One

_Author's Note: Now here's a chapter I've been looking forward to writing for a LONG time. But I'm more excited for the next one. You'll see why when we get there._

_The explanation I give for leopard style in this chapter comes straight from the official KFP website. As if I know enough about kung fu to describe it otherwise :P_

* * *

Chapter 14: Fighting as One

The Wu Sisters' routine didn't change much, not at first. However, they found meditation and tai chi to be much easier now that they didn't have any personal conflicts to deal with. No wonder Master Oogway had gone through so much trouble to clear that up. As the sisters got a firmer understanding of these concepts, Oogway started to place more and more emphasis on forms, particularly the forms involved in leopard style. It was only a few days later that he finally started teaching them kung fu.

He began with the basics, leading them through various punches and kicks and showing them the proper way to perform each. Only now did they truly see how much the previous exercises had helped them. They knew that this would have been a lot harder without the "foundation" Oogway had given them before.

Once they got the basics down, Oogway focused on the crux of their training: the concept he called "fighting as one."

"What does that mean exactly?" Su asked. While the eldest sister still didn't show her emotions by default, her sisters were okay with that, now knowing that this was just a front. When she needed to show them, she did.

"When warriors are as close to each other as you three, you have a distinct advantage over individual foes, and even most other groups," Oogway explained. "If you know each other as well as I think you do, then you can predict exactly how your sisters will react in any given situation. You can predict each others' moves _to the letter_." He gave this a moment to sink in. It was clear that they all understood how valuable this could be. "That is what I mean by fighting as one. When you master this, you will be less like three warriors, and more like one warrior in three bodies." They started to look a little creeped out. "Not literally. Now, let us begin."

He had the sisters test their perception of each other by sparring in the arena. While reluctant to fight each other at first, Oogway assured them that it would help them in the long run. Soon enough, they agreed. They each racked up a number of wins against each other, but the battles became progressively longer and closer each time as the sisters slowly learned each others' fighting styles.

Wing was strong and aggressive. She would attack immediately and without mercy, hitting with as much force as she could muster. Wan was swift and agile. She would be more hesitant to attack, but would be able to do so quickly when needed, usually as a counter instead of the first strike. Su was tactical and utilized the most technique. There was always a reason to her attacks aside from simply causing pain.

During their sparring sessions, Oogway also encouraged them to utilize leopard style. It was an aggressive style, similar to tiger style, but not as direct. Practitioners of this style used patience, evading their opponents until they found the right moment to strike. Su and Wan got the gist of this pretty quickly, but the hotheaded Wing had quite a bit more trouble. It took being knocked on her tail a few dozen times for her to finally get the point, but even then, she had the most aggressive style of the three.

Master Oogway watched Wing and Wan in the middle of one of their spars. Wing attacked Wan with a roundhouse kick, which she ducked under. She spun around to throw a punch at Wing's back, but she was already there to catch her fist. Wing thought that she had gotten Wan's evasive style down pat, but realized that she was mistaken when Wan lept straight over her head. As she was still holding onto her fist, Wing was pulled down to the ground. Wan quickly climbed on top of her and pinned her down before she could react.

"Now, are you gonna give up, or do I have to start tickling?"

"Alright, fine. You win," Wing grumbled.

Wan looked to Oogway for approval, which he granted with a nod. He had done this training with a few others in the past and knew that the closeness of the students affected how quickly they would master it.

The Wu Sisters had quite the special bond indeed. They were ready in just under two months.

* * *

When the time came for them to show the fruits of their training, Master Oogway had them wait in the center of the arena while he went back inside. He soon returned with a familiar foe: the Adversary. The sisters surrounded the dummy and grinned confidently, knowing that they were going to wreck the thing this time.

But fate had other things in store.

"Hey! Not again!" Tai Lung yelled. He and Master Shifu were standing in the entrance to the courtyard.

"Oh, dear. Did I forget about your training schedule again?" Oogway asked.

Tai Lung looked ready to explode at him before Shifu rapped him on the back of the head. Rubbing his sore head, the snow leopard stepped forward and bowed. "My apologies, Master Oogway, but I am scheduled to use the courtyard now."

"Is that so? Then I have a proposition for you." There was an uncharacteristic slyness in his tone. It was slowly becoming clear to everyone that he had not forgotten the schedule after all.

Tai Lung tilted his head in confusion, as did Master Shifu. "What do you mean?"

"I propose that you engage my students in a spar."

"WHAT?!" shouted Tai Lung, Shifu, and all three Wu Sisters.

Oogway laughed. "Well, if you both want to use this area for training, than that seems like a simple solution."

"Master Oogway, please reconsider," Shifu said. "Tai Lung has been training years longer than those three. It would not be an even fight."

"I agree." This time, it was the sisters who were about to yell at him before he continued. "That is why I suggest fighting all three at once."

Shifu had thought his master crazy sometimes, but this was downright insane."Master Oogway-"

"Of course, it is only a suggestion. "Oogway waved a hand nonchalantly. "It is ultimately their decision if they want to accept it or not."

As soon as he said that, Shifu knew that this spar was going to happen. The leopard cubs had instantly gone from trying to object, to glaring at each other in challenge. Each side saw the opportunity to put the other in their place and were now more than willing to take it. Already, they were positioning themselves on opposite sides of the arena and taking up stances.

"Give me your best shot, ladies," Tai Lung mocked. "I'll beat all three of you no problem."

"We'll see about that," Su responded. "Let's take him down, sisters."

Shifu sighed in resignation. This was going to be a disaster.

Tai Lung made the first move, charging forward and throwing a punch at Su. She was quick enough to block it, but Tai Lung followed up with a kick that knocked her back. Wing came at him from the side with a kick, which he caught and, swinging her around by the leg, threw her straight into Wan. The three sisters landed together in a pile.

Su slowly picked herself off the ground and saw Tai Lung smirking at them. _He IS good, I'll give him that._

"Master Oogway-"

"Patience, Shifu."

Su looked around at her sisters, who were also back on their feet and ready to fight. _But not as good as us._

Tai Lung readied himself as they charged right back at him and each performed a flying kick. He dodged the first two kicks, but Su delayed the third one ever-so-slightly and caught him in the gut.

This was where the battle changed completely.

As Tai Lung stumbled back from the blow, Wing was right there waiting for him. She kicked him in the back, sending him forward again, where Su punched him in the face. He blocked her second punch and attempted to give her one of his own when Wan kicked him in the side. She grabbed him by the arm and swung him around into Wing's waiting fist. Su then ran in and hit him with another kick, sending him to the ground.

"How are they doing this?" Shifu asked in astonishment. "It's like they know exactly how the others are going to attack."

"They do," Oogway said simply.

Tai Lung got back to his feet, snarling furiously at the sisters. He had just enough time to notice there were only two of them before Su was grabbing his shoulders from behind. She kicked him back towards her sisters, who rushed forward and delivered two simultaneous drop-kicks to the snow leopard, slamming his head into the ground.

"Hmm...a bit excessive perhaps," Oogway said, not noticing the gaping Shifu next to him.

Tai Lung weakly opened his eyes and looked up to see the sisters staring down at him. "We win," Su said, smirking. Tai Lung groaned and promptly lost consciousness.

Master Shifu was still in shock. These three cubs with only months of training had just defeated his star pupil. "Shifu..." Oogway started.

Shifu snapped out of his shock and bowed. "I am sorry, Master. I should not have doubted your wisdom. I humbly ask for your forgiveness."

Oogway blinked. "I was going to say that you should get Tai Lung to the healers." Shifu's eyes widened.

While Shifu rushed to his fallen student, Oogway approached his own students with a look of pride. "You understand now, don't you? With your combined strength, you are more than a match for opponents who would be too much for you individually."

The Wu Sisters smiled at each other in gratitude. They went to bed together that night, feeling confident that nothing could stop them.

And for a very long time, they were right.


	15. Growing Up

_Author's Note: Here we are, the point where the Wu Sisters FINALLY get out of childhood. I know you've been waiting for this and so have I, so let's get right into it!_

* * *

Chapter 15: Growing Up

The Wu Sisters never expected to stay at the Jade Palace as long as they did.

Their original plan was to learn kung fu and leave, but as it turned out, there was _way_ more to kung fu than they thought. Almost as if he sensed their intentions, Master Oogway was constantly giving them new techniques to learn and perfect.

Kung fu wasn't the only thing he taught them either. Because of their poor background, they had missed out on a lot of the education that most other children took for granted. Oogway took it upon himself to rectify that, teaching them reading and writing, simple mathematics, and China's rich history, among other things. It seemed like every day there was something new for them to learn.

And before they knew it, five years had passed.

The seventeen-year-old Su Wu yawned as she slowly climbed out of bed. Smoothing out her clothes and fur, she looked down at herself, seeing a very different feline than the one who first arrived here.

The sisters had more then doubled in height over the years. While Oogway had taught them about actual units of measurement, they jokingly preferred to use Master Shifu instead. Each of them was now about two Shifus tall, while Tai Lung was closer to two-and-a-half Shifus.

Having outgrown their old outfits, Oogway had taken the liberty to buy them new ones, custom-made to be as similar as possible. They still had the grey vests, black pants, and sandals, but now with the addition of white sashes and leg wrappings. As an extra touch, the character for "Wu" was also stitched onto the back of each vest.

With all he had done for them, many would come to view the tortoise as their surrogate father, like Shifu was to Tai Lung. Of course, they themselves never thought of it like that. The only family they had was each other. Oogway was a teacher and occasionally a friend, but nothing more.

Su stopped to do some brief stretching, then left the room. Wing and Wan opened their doors shortly afterward and came out to join her. Like usual, they were up an hour before the gong rung, yet Tai Lung was already gone. The snow leopard had resented their ability to wake up before him and now made it a habit to get up _two _hours before the gong. They decided that this was one contest they didn't mind him winning.

Tai Lung wasn't in the dining area either, but the palace servants were, already in the process of bringing out the sisters' breakfast. Even after all this time, the idea of having servants was a bit surreal to them. Going from poor, thieving children to getting waited on was quite the step up. Though they felt a bit bad for the poor servants who had to get up so much earlier because of the four leopards.

"So, what do you want to do this morning, dear sisters?" Su asked, taking a sip of herbal tea. Oogway had given them a more lenient schedule by this point. They were expected to train everyday and given milestones to reach, but were allowed to choose how they would go about it.

Wing bit into a steamed bun. "I could go for some early morning training." Wan just shrugged. She enjoyed pretty much everything.

So the sisters finished their breakfast and went straight for the training hall. Their kung fu skills had grown exponentially. Each of them were now only slightly below Tai Lung in ability, and that was just on an individual level. They had all conquered the training hall and were using it nearly every day to hone their skills. It almost seemed silly to them that they used to be so afraid of the place.

The sisters spread out around the training hall, each practicing on their favorite obstacle. Wing balanced herself on the spinning serpent logs as she ducked and dodged around the Seven Swinging Clubs of Instant Oblivion. She had no problem just kicking the things out of the way if she needed to, which had already gotten one embedded in the wall and left another in pieces. The first time this happened, Oogway assured them that this stuff got broken all the time. Wing used that as an excuse to break more of them.

Wan laughed happily, having the time of her life as she danced around the Field of Fiery Death. She had turned one of the most dangerous training mechanisms in the history of kung fu into her personal playground. She barely even noticed when a plume of fire almost singed her.

In between them was Su, slowly practicing her techniques on the Jade Tortoise. Of the three of them, she had most mastered the concepts of leopard style and was envisioning imaginary opponents that she took down with pinpoint strikes. She was about to attack another when a certain snow leopard came in.

"Hey, ladies!" Tai Lung called out to them from the doorway, that term now being used as a form of endearment rather then insult. After kicking his face into the ground five years ago, they had long since earned his respect.

"Hi, Tai!" Wan called back, giggling. Puberty had hit her the hardest, causing her to develop a not-so-subtle crush on the snow leopard. Admittedly, her sisters found it hard to blame her. He had grown some incredible muscles and his insistence on never wearing a shirt put them on full display.

"What is it, Tai Lung?" Su asked calmly. She decided that he wasn't going to interrupt her training and continued doing her routine.

"Master Oogway and Master Shifu want us to meet them in the Hall of Warriors. They're sending us on a mission together."

That surprised them, so much so that Wing took a club to the face, Su fell off the Jade Tortoise, and Wan was now nursing a burnt tail.

Their surprise was justified. Master Oogway had _never _sent them on a mission before. He always said that they didn't have enough experience and just sent Tai Lung instead. It wasn't something that they particularly minded, since they apparently didn't get anything out of it except thanks, but they were curious nonetheless.

Wing got back up, rubbing her sore nose. "This had better be good."

* * *

The teenage leopards arrived in the Hall of Warriors to see Oogway and Shifu sitting in front of the moon pool."Ah, there you are," Oogway greeted the sisters warmly. Shifu just gave them a short nod. Even after they had proved their skill to him, the red panda made it clear that he didn't like them. They weren't really sure why. Was it because they humiliated his student, or did he just not trust them? In any case, they didn't really like him either, so they hardly cared.

They bowed before the Masters with Tai Lung, though Wing needed a slap from Su's tail first. She still had trouble with that whole "respect" thing. "What is our mission, honorable Masters?" Tai Lung asked.

Oogway turned towards the sisters. "Are you familiar with Gongmen City?"

They knew that this was partially a quiz, since he had told them about the city himself. "Of course," Su answered. "It is one of China'a largest cities, known as both the birthplace of fireworks, and the former home of Lord Shen, the heir to the throne who went crazy and massacred a bunch of pandas-"

"Yes, yes," Oogway cut her off hurriedly. He cleared his throat and gave them a serious look. "Gongmen City is under attack."

They all shot up at once. "What?!" Tai Lung yelled. "By whom?"

"They are an army of komodo dragons, led by a warlord named Zhou Dan," Shifu said. "They have made multiple attempts to take the city in the past, but were always thwarted by the wolves who made up the royal guard. However..."

"...The wolves aren't around anymore," Su finished.

"Exactly. That is why we need you four to go in and help the city drive them out. Normally, we would send only Tai Lung, but I fear this may be too much to handle alone, even for him."

Wing growled. "So _that's _why you're sending us? Out of desperation?!"

Shifu looked like he was about to confirm that when Oogway wisely spoke up first. "Of course not. We also believe that you have achieved a high enough level of kung fu that you are ready to go on a mission. Isn't that right, Shifu?"

Shifu shifted awkwardly. "...Yes, yes indeed."

Satisfied, Oogway turned his attention back to the students. "You will all leave first thing tomorrow morning. The servants will prepare you a travel bag with all the necessities for your trip. Do you have any questions?" They remained silent. "Very well. You are dismissed. Spend the rest of the day to prepare yourselves." The foursome bowed once more and made to leave the hall.

"Su, could you stay behind for a moment?" Oogway asked suddenly.

Su gave a nod to her sisters and they left the hall with Tai Lung. She didn't know what Oogway wanted her for, but whatever it was, Shifu sure didn't look happy about it. The tortoise walked over to Su and pulled a scroll out from under his robes. She instantly recognized it as one of the thousand scrolls of kung fu that they had been studying for a while now. She thought that Oogway just wanted them to continue studying on the road when she noticed the scroll's number printed on the case.

"#782?" Su read, confused. "Master Oogway, we are nowhere near that level."

"True," Shifu said bluntly. Oogway ignored him.

"I know. I just thought that this particular technique would be a good match for you three."

Su still didn't understand, but she accepted the scroll anyway. "Thank you, Master Oogway." She bowed again and headed out of the room, where she was immediately stopped by her curious sisters.

"Well? Well? What is it?" Wan asked excitedly.

Su held up the scroll to them. "Just some new technique for us to study during the trip. Nothing important."

Wing took notice of the scroll's number. "Wait, isn't that...?"

"Yes, it's way too advanced for us, I know. But he insisted."

"Five years, and I _still _don't understand that guy," Wing said, putting a paw to her head. "Well, whatever. Let's go get some more training in. I have a score to settle with that club." The others agreed and followed her back to the training hall.

As they did, Su looked down at the scroll in her paw. She was going to wait until they were on the road to start reading it, but she at least wanted an idea of what they were getting into. Making sure that no one was watching her, she unfurled the scroll slightly, just enough to read the name of the technique it contained. She raised an eyebrow.

_What the heck is the Mushu Vortex? _


	16. Closer Than Ever

_Author's Note: Zhou Dan and his komodo dragon army are NOT original characters. They appear as the main antagonists of "Kung Fu Panda 2: the Game", which I have not played, but know the general story of. Admittedly, I just couldn't think of anyone else to serve as the villains here._

_And another thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. No offense to you gordhanx, but it's nice to see someone else for once. :P_

* * *

Chapter 16: Closer Than Ever

The Wu Sisters set out the next morning with Tai Lung on their journey to Gongmen City, which Master Oogway predicted would take about five days. It was shorter than their original trip to the Jade Palace, but made harder by the fact that they were specifically ordered _not _to stay in any towns. They didn't want their enemies in Gongmen to catch wind that they were coming.

As promised, the Palace servants had prepared a generous travel bag for them that Tai Lung insisted on carrying. The sisters weren't sure if this was chivalry or misogyny, but either way, they didn't care. The thing was half as big as he was; no way were they carrying it if they didn't have to. The bag was filled with all sorts of items, from small packets of food and water, to various herbal medicines and potions, to cooking supplies. Most importantly, it had a map to the city that Su was reading off of.

"Alright...there should be a small clearing up ahead. We can camp there for the night." The group stopped in the middle of a forest around dusk to set up camp. Most people would be afraid of getting attacked by bandits out here, but not them. Tai Lung had quite the fearsome reputation among criminals and they knew that no one would come near them with him around. Su wondered if they would one day be feared like that.

Wing and Wan gathered some firewood and started cooking a packet of rice in a pot. It reminded them greatly of the old days, back when they were children. That felt so long ago now.

While everyone was gathered around the fire, Su reached into the bag and pulled out the scroll Oogway had given her. "I guess we might as well get to _this_, now," she said, holding the object in the air.

"What's that?" asked Tai Lung.

"One of the thousand scrolls. Master Oogway told us to study it during the trip."

He nodded in understanding. "Yes, Master Shifu has done that to me, too. It's a way of keeping your skills fresh while...wait a minute." Tai Lung took a closer at the scroll. "Is that #782?"

"Yes..." Su confirmed. Tai Lung burst out laughing, bending over and clutching his sides. _Well, this doesn't sound promising._

"What the heck is so funny?!" Wing yelled at him.

Tai Lung calmed down and wiped a tear from his eye. "That scroll is a joke! I can't believe Master Oogway would give you such an impossible errand."

"Impossible? But if you're familiar with the scroll, doesn't that mean you've already mastered it?" Su asked. She knew he was a long way into mastering all of the scrolls, much farther than them, but she had too much pride to ask for his help.

"Not quite. You see, there are some techniques in the scrolls that cannot be performed unless you are a certain species. I was only able to 'master' those in the sense that I developed an understanding of how they work. Not even the Dragon Warrior can transcend species limitations." They all rolled their eyes at this, even Wan. Tai Lung spent way too much time talking about this "Dragon Warrior" title of his. Actually, they were pretty sure he didn't even _have _the title yet.

Tai Lung pointed a claw back at the scroll Su was holding."_This _one, though, is impossible for entirely different reasons."

"Such as...?" Wing waved a paw impatiently.

"Read it yourself and find out."

"Fine." Su sat up against a tree as her sisters crowded around her. "I'll admit, I took a little peek at this before we left," she said. "But I didn't see much. Only that it's called the "Mushu Vortex".

Wing and Wan responded with a raised eyebrow, just as she did. "The...what?" Wing asked.

"Yes, it's certainly a strange name, isn't it? Now let's see what it's about." Su opened the scroll up all the way and started to read aloud from it.

_The Mushu Vortex, developed in the Qin dynasty, is one of the most advanced, and most mysterious of all kung fu techniques. It is notable as one of very few techniques that cannot be performed alone. It requires two or more practitioners who possess roughly equal skill and long tails. It is said that they must also have a close, familial bond with each other, or the technique will not work._

_If these requirements are met, the practitioners stand in a tight circle with their backs to each other and use the power of their chi to tie the ends of their tails into a knot. They then leave the ground and spin themselves in a circle, picking up a tremendous amount of speed and forming a powerful vortex that is capable of breaking through solid stone and almost impervious to attack._

_Further details on the technique and how to perform it are unfortunately scarce. According to legend, the only ones who have ever been able to master it are its creators, a pair of tiger brothers known as the Mushu twins. _

"Attach ourselves by our tails and spin around at super-speed? That sounds impossible," Wing said, incredulously. "And really, really stupid."

Wan scratched the back of her head, frowning."Wasn't really all that descriptive, was it?"

"Told you it was a load of crap." Tai Lung said. "How many techniques have you heard of that could only be performed by their creators? Who didn't even bother to leave good instructions?"

Su stared at the parchment, thoughtfully. There was nothing else on it aside from a small diagram showing what appeared to be some kind of pinwheel shape. She realized that this was supposed to be what the technique looked like, the two tiger brothers tied together by their tails.

It was obvious why Oogway thought this move would be a good fit for them, but it sounded way too farfetched to be real. Especially with the lack of detail on how to actually perform it.

_But what if it IS real? That kind of destructive power could have so much potential for us..._

"Let's try it," she said finally.

"Cool. Sounds fun!" Wan grinned. She was always up for trying something new.

Wing, not so much. "Come on, this is a waste of time! Do you really think we can pull this off?"

"Maybe not, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? Remember the last time we had to come to a decision like this?"

Wing bit her lip. She did. It was the time they had to decide whether or not to go with Oogway to the Jade Palace. Now they were all skilled martial artists. "That's a good point..." she admitted.

Wan pumped a fist cheerfully. "Yeah, that's the spirit! I'm sure we'll have it down in no time!"

Tai Lung smirked. "Good luck, ladies."

And this time, he _was _mocking them.

* * *

After eating dinner, Tai Lung went off to do some training of his own, leaving the sisters to the scroll.

"So...uh...how do we do this again?" Wan asked.

"Well...we have the familial bond thing down, so now we just have to connect our tails and do it," Su shrugged.

Wing crossed her arms. "And how exactly are we supposed to do _that_? I don't know if Master Oogway realized this, but we're not monkeys."

"No...but...well..." Su wasn't used to being so clueless. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling for her. "...Let's just give it a try."

They were very thankful that Tai Lung chose to train by himself right now. They must have looked pretty ridiculous standing in a circle and repeatedly hitting their tails together, hoping they would somehow connect. They were more than familiar with the concept of chi, but using it for something like this was far above their ability.

"I don't think this is working," Wan finally said.

"Forget this!" Wing shouted. "Let's just tie the damn things together manually!"

For the next several minutes, they applied their very limited knowledge of knots in trying to make one that would keep their tails together. Once they were done, they looked back at the knot they had created.

"Okay, we've succeeded at perverting the natural order," Wing deadpanned. "Now what?"

"Now we...spin around I guess."

The sisters all crouched down into running positions, facing each others' backs. They took off on the count of three, rapidly running around in a circle. They were each able to maintain roughly the same speed, slowly getting faster and faster.

"I think it's working!" Wan called out hopefully.

But before they could even reach top speed, the momentum proved to be too much for the knot they had created and it broke apart, sending them flying in three separate directions.

Su slowly pulled herself up from the tree she had been thrown into. "It needs to be tighter," she groaned. They tied their tails back together again, this time making the knot as tight as they could. Painful as that was, they hoped it would pay off in the end.

Unfortunately, it didn't. The knot stayed together, but they were never able to pick up enough speed to perform the move. All that happened was that someone eventually tripped or got to close to the others, knocking them all over. They had already tried it more times than they could count.

"Come on, we can't give up!" Wan protested. "Master Oogway always says 'nothing is impossible', right? "

Two hours later, the sisters found themselves back on the ground after yet another failed attempt at performing the Mushu Vortex. By now, the sun was long gone and it was getting late.

"This is impossible," Wan said.

"It's not worth the trouble," Wing agreed. "Let's just go back already."

Su sighed in defeat. It appeared that the Wu Sisters had finally met their match. "Alright, let me just free our tails first." She reached back and tried to undo the knot in their tails. It wouldn't budge.

_Uh oh._

* * *

"Hai...YAH!"

Tai Lung brought his fist forward and punched the center of a large tree. The tree cracked from the hole he had created and toppled to the ground. He looked down at the fallen tree, smiling in triumph. This natural environment had already done wonders for his training. It was a shame that the sisters had to waste it on that worthless scroll. He stretched his muscles and headed back to camp, wondering if they decided to give up yet.

When he got there, he found the three sisters sitting around the campfire, tied firmly together by their tails.

"We're stuck," Wing said blankly.

For a second, Tai Lung was so shocked that he didn't say or do anything.

Then he fell onto the ground, laughing hysterically.


	17. Arrival

_Author's Note: So I just noticed that I have officially surpassed my previous story in length. It's not a huge accomplishment, but still cool nonetheless._

* * *

Chapter 17: Arrival

"How on Earth did you manage this?" Tai Lung asked, trying in vain to undo the knot on the Wu Sisters' tails.

"We have no idea," Wan shrugged. "We were just trying to make a good knot."

Tai Lung made one last attempt to yank their tails apart, but only succeeded in making them wince. "Well, you did," he said dryly. "I can't break you apart without mutilating you."

"Then what do we do?" Wan asked uneasily.

He sighed. "We keep going and hope that someone in Gongmen City can help."

That was exactly what they were afraid of. "What?! We can't go out in public like this!" Wing yelled.

"It's either that, or we go all the way back to the Jade Palace and tell the Masters exactly why we couldn't complete our mission." He got no more argument after that. If they thought being humiliated in public was bad, it was nothing compared to being humiliated in front of the Masters.

The rest of the journey was much quieter. They continued to travel through forests, mountains, and rivers by day, and stopped to camp and train at night. As much as the sisters didn't want anything to do with the Mushu Vortex anymore, it was the only thing they could practice in their current predicament. Yet they continued to have nothing to show for it except bruises. "Oogway is going to have some _serious _explaining to do when we get back," Wing said bitterly.

When it was time for bed, Su and Wing tried to sleep as far away from Tai Lung as possible, which Wan made harder for them by wanting to cuddle right up next to him. The snow leopard of course, didn't mind the attention at all. The sisters looked even sillier than before with their tails stretched out like a rubber band.

* * *

After four more days of this, the group finally reached Gongmen City. They entered the city by boat, as a way of keeping out of their enemies' sight. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be necessary as there was no sign of the komodo dragons anywhere. It was clear that they had been there though, judging by the damage they could see on some of the buildings. Not that this took anything away from the city's magnificence. The sisters had been told about how enormous Gongmen City was, but seeing it for themselves was an entirely different story. Most impressive of all was the Tower of Sacred Flame that stood in the center, which they knew to be their destination.

"Woah! It's like five-hundred Shifus tall!" Wan gasped.

They got some stares from passerby as they made their way to the tower, but not nearly as many as they expected. In fact, there were a lot less people around than there should have been for such a large city. Looking around, they could see that most of the civilians were keeping themselves locked up inside their homes. The rest barely paid attention to them at all, too concerned with their own wellbeing.

"I've never seen so many people look so frightened before," Wan said.

"I have," Tai Lung said grimly. "I've been on many missions like this before. The sooner we can put a stop to this, the better."

Once they reached the tower gates, a platoon of antelope soldiers came out to greet them. Just by looking at them, they could tell that these were a far cry from the wolves that formerly served as the city guard. Most of them were covered in signs of battle and some seemed as nervous as the civilians. There was one solider who looked pretty impressive though, a slightly taller antelope with a rigid posture that came to the front of the line. "You must be the students from the Jade Palace. I am Captain Xun of the royal guard. I hereby welcome you all to Gongmen City."

"It is an honor," Tai Lung said in a clearly rehearsed manner. "I am Tai Lung and these are my fellow students Su, Wing and Wan Wu."

"I see," Xun nodded. He noticed the sisters conjoined tails and quirked his head in confusion. "May I ask what that is about?"

Su didn't show it, but she was exceedingly nervous right now. "Well..."

"That is their personal style," Tai Lung cut in. "They prefer to fight tied together like that."

Xun bought it instantly. After all, there were some pretty strange kung fu styles out there. "Understood. Now if you will follow me, I will take you to the war room." He turned around and marched back through the tower gates, followed by the students.

* * *

"Awww, you are such a sweetie covering for us like that." Wan whispered, hugging Tai Lung's arm affectionately. "If you want, maybe I can make it up to you later..."

"Don't even think about it," Su warned. She was normally all for giving her sisters what they wanted, but she had to be the responsible older sibling and draw the line somewhere. Especially if she was going to be stuck to her for the time being.

"Don't think anything of it," Tai Lung said. "I just can't have you three disgracing the name of the Jade Palace, that's all." Wing growled. Even when he was doing something nice, he could be so infuriating.

Captain Xun led the foursome up several flights of stairs in the tower, putting their endurance to the test, until he stopped about halfway up and went into a door. The war room was filled to the brim with other antelope soldiers surrounding a large map of the city and murmuring to themselves. These soldiers looked just as battered as the ones outside. Behind all of them was an elderly goat woman leaning over a small bowl in the corner. She stuck out like a sore thumb next to the others, yet there was something strangely familiar about her.

"Who is that?" Su asked quietly.

"That is the Soothsayer," Xun answered. "She has served the royal family for generations." That was it. The sisters recognized her from the story Oogway had told them about Lord Shen. She was the one who foretold the prophecy that had driven Shen over the deep end.

Xun cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "I am pleased to report that the students of the Jade Palace have finally arrived." The soldiers immediately perked up and looked at the newcomers excitedly, though the sisters noticed that Tai Lung was getting almost all of the attention. It made sense, given that this was only their first mission, but it was still a bit frustrating.

"It is an honor," Tai Lung repeated. "Now, tell us about the current state of the city."

The soldiers snapped out of their starstruck gazes and went back to viewing the map while Xun walked over to them. The captain placed a hoof on the part representing the outer wall, which was marked in ink with a large 'X'. Su was reminded of their missions under the Thieves' Guild, memories that she quickly forced back down.

"Zhou Dan's army has been assaulting the outer rim of the city for the past couple weeks, slowly making their way inwards. They could've advanced on the tower a while ago, but have been attacking only in short bursts. I believe that this is an intimidation tactic to break our spirits before they move in for the kill." Xun glanced over at his soldiers. "Unfortunately, it seems to be working."

"What about close-combat?" Tai Lung asked. The sisters were content to let him handle all the questions, not knowing a thing about military tactics.

"What do _you _think?" Xun snorted. "We're a bunch of tiny antelopes against an army of komodo dragons. We have greatly accelerated our military training, but it is simply not enough without the wolves reinforcing us. Filthy traitors as they were, they knew how to fight."

"You don't have any kung fu masters of your own to protect the city?"

"We don't," Xun sighed. "We've been making plans to form some kind of 'kung fu council', but the dragons attacked before we could get that idea off the ground."

During all of this, there was one question on the back of Su's mind that she was waiting to hear. When it became clear that Tai Lung wasn't going to ask it, she decided to put her own voice in. "And what exactly are the _rulers _doing about all this?"

She regretted her outburst when the entire room abruptly went silent. Even Xun lost his military posture and avoided their gaze. It was the elderly Soothsayer who finally answered, looking up at them sadly. "Unfortunately, the Lord and Lady are no longer with us."

They all gasped. "You mean...they _died_?!" Tai Lung asked in shock. "When did this happen? Was it the dragons?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid they were on their deathbed long before the attacks. It started about a month after they were forced to banish their son. No healer in the country could've done anything for them. They died of grief."

Su still didn't understand. "Lord Shen? Why would they grieve over such a monster?" She knew she was being a bit of a hypocrite, what with the mass child murder, but wiping out an entire species was something she couldn't even imagine.

"Watch your tongue!" the goat snapped, catching her by surprise. _Strange. She almost seems to care more about Shen than the rulers._

"We're getting off-topic here," Tai Lung said. "Captain, what are your plans for a counterattack?"

Xun was clearly relived to be done talking about Shen as he pointed back at the map. "We're fairly certain that the dragons have no idea you guys are here, so we're going to use that to our advantage. The next time they attack, we will send our forces out into the city to battle them, as per usual. But while they are busy dealing with us, you four will sneak past them to locate and apprehend Zhou Dan. Once their leader is defeated, the rest of the army should retreat."

"A diversion tactic, huh?" Wing smirked. "Yeah, we're used to those." Tai Lung looked at her curiously, but she didn't say anything else. They had never told him about their past and they didn't intend to.

"Good," Xun nodded. "In the meantime, you are all welcome to stay in the tower. We have special guest rooms prepared for you one floor up." Taking that as their cue to leave, the sisters headed out of the room with Tai Lung and made for the stairs.

"I can't wait to finally earn us some respect," Wing grinned.

"Don't be so sure that we will," Su frowned.

"Why? What's gonna stop us?"

Their tails got caught on one of the tower's pillars and knocked them over.

"Oh, right. _That._"


	18. The Wu Vortex

_Author's Note: I'm back in school now, which unfortunately means that my update schedule is going to slow down considerably. I should still be relatively quick, but you may only be getting chapters on a weekly basis for now. Sorry about that.  
_

* * *

Chapter 18: The Wu Vortex

The time for battle came sooner than anyone anticipated. It was only the next morning that Zhou Dan decided to attack again. Unfortunately, the Wu Sisters were less then prepared.

"Not this again..." Wing groaned, having been woken up by loud alarm bells at around 3 in the morning. "Can't we get a good night's sleep for once?!" She shifted to get up and accidentally elbowed Wan in the face.

"OW!"

"Sorry."

The sisters were given three separate beds to sleep on, but had been forced to cram themselves onto one. Wing was reminded of this fact again as Su tried to stretch out and kicked her in the gut.

It was amazing how much trouble a simple scroll could cause. They had planned to spend the day finding a local healer that could get them apart again, but it was now apparent that they didn't have the time for that. If #782 wasn't property of the Jade Palace, they would have chucked it through a window by now.

"Let's just get this over with," said Su, before falling off the bed and dragging both of her sisters with her.

* * *

The sisters had to practically drag themselves down the stairs to the tower gates, being very careful not to trip on anything. The entirety of Gongmen City's royal guard was positioned around the gates, weapons at the ready. Tai Lung was already there, as was Captain Xun, who took notice of them. "Thank goodness, you're here! Zhou Dan is attacking, and it looks like he's finally ready to make his assault on the tower!"

"Lucky us," Wing sighed.

"The komodo dragons are going to come charging through that gate any minute," Tai Lung said. "Are you three ready to complete our mission?"

Su glanced over her shoulder at their conjoined tails. "As ready as we're going to be."

Tai Lung nodded, deciding that this setback would not be enough to stop him. He _was _the Dragon Warrior, after all. "Then let's go."

The foursome slowly climbed up the tower gates and peeked over. The komodo dragon army was right on the other side, banging against the gate with all they could. They were far too busy with this to notice the leopards flinging themselves over to the rooftops, a jump made much more difficult for the sisters than usual. Just as they all landed, the gate burst open and several dozen dragons slipped through. Xun and his forces charged forward to meet them, but it was clear immediately that they didn't stand a chance.

"They're going to get themselves killed," Wan said, concerned.

Tai Lung turned around to face her. "Don't worry about them. We need to focus on finding Zhou Dan. Keep an eye out and..." he held back a laugh. "...try to stick together."

He crouched back down and continued forward, not seeing Wing take a swipe at his back.

* * *

They found Zhou Dan and a small group of his forces hanging back in an open city block, one of very few in Gongmen. It wasn't exactly hard figuring out which of them was Zhou, as he was dressed in bright, golden armor and sitting on a palanquin.

"What a coward, hanging back in safety while his men do all the work," Su said in disgust.

"It's a common trait with these arrogant warlord types," Tai Lung agreed. "Now, let's go give him a rude awakening."

They waited until two of the dragons wandered a bit too close, then jumped down and landed right on top of them, knocking them out instantly. The rest of the soldiers reared back in shock, but Zhou only looked amused.

"Ah, Tai Lung of the Jade Palace," he smiled. "I have heard much about your skills in battle. It will be a pleasure to watch you die."

"Uh...we're here too," Wing said, raising a paw.

"Get him!" Zhou shouted. The sisters took up fighting stances as the army charged, but they ran right past them and went for Tai Lung, ignoring them completely.

"Well, this is insulting."

"Should we help him?" Wan asked.

"That won't be necessary," Tai Lung said, kicking one of the dragons away, Indeed, he was more than a match for his opponents. It was only a matter of time before he won. But this left the sisters alone against Zhou Dan.

"What are you supposed to be?" the dragon leader snorted, not even bothering to get up from his seat.

"We're the Wu Sisters," Wing snarled. "And you're history!" She attempted to rush him, but forget about the current circumstances and fell flat on her face.

Zhou laughed and rose from the chair, clapping his hands together in mock applause. "Oh, this is going to be fun." Without warning, he charged. Wing only just got back up when Zhou kicked her to the side and threw a punch at Wan. The youngest sister blocked the punch and tried to throw one back while Su went around to attack Zhou from behind. The result was both of them getting caught by their tails and missing Zhou completely. Wing then tried to get up again and inadvertently tripped them, making her fall back down as well. The downed sisters now formed a small ring around Zhou.

"This is way too easy," he taunted. "You guys aren't worth my time." He stepped over Wan and started heading towards where Tai Lung was fighting.

"Hey!" Wing shouted. The sisters had gotten back to their feet again. "We aren't done yet!"

"Aren't you?" Without even turning around, Zhou swung his own bulky tail at them in a horizontal arc. They attempted to dodge in three different directions, which just made them all get hit. Zhou laughed and kept walking, leaving the humiliated sisters back on the ground. They had long mastered fighting as one, but that was doing them little good now. They couldn't predict each others' moves when they themselves didn't even know how to fight like this.

"This _sucks!" _Wing yelled. "We would be making mincemeat out of this guy if we weren't stuck together!"

"I don't think Tai can win if Zhou goes after him, too," Wan said, watching the snow leopard worriedly.

"Screw Tai! _We're _never going to get any respect again if anyone finds out about this!"

Meanwhile, Su had gotten an idea. An idea born out of desperation, but an idea nonetheless. "Let's try the Mushu Vortex."

She was expecting them to object, but to her surprise, they both agreed instantly.

"Sounds good."

"Let's do it."

It was then that Su finally understood. The Mushu Vortex wasn't just a matter of getting their bodies perfectly in-sync, but their minds as well. During their previous attempts at the technique, Wing had been pessimistic, Wan optimistic, and Su somewhere in the middle. It was a complete mismatch, and that was why they continued to fail. But now, they all wanted nothing more to than to perform the technique and kick Zhou's ass.

Tai Lung finally finished off the last of the dragons he was fighting and casually dusted his paws off as Zhou approached him. He then noticed the battered sisters rising up behind him. "Need any help, ladies?"

Su smiled back at him. "That won't be necessary."

To this day, the Wu Sisters could never put into words how exactly this technique worked, which was probably why the scroll didn't either. It almost felt like their bodies were moving on their own as they lifted off the ground and spun themselves around until they formed a powerful vortex. Tai Lung's jaw dropped, as did Zhou's, before the Mushu Vortex sped right for them. Tai Lung was fast enough to dive out of the way, but Zhou was not so lucky. The komodo dragon was hit dead on and thrown into a wall on the opposite end of the block. The Vortex pursued him, pushing him deeper into the wall as Zhou screamed in pain. A few seconds later, the Vortex backed away from the wall, then slowed down and came to a stop. The knot that had plagued the sisters for so long broke right apart as if it were butter.

Zhou slowly peeled off the wall and landed in a heap on the ground. His golden armor had been completely shattered and some large scratches had been cut into his chest. He was injured, but alive. Su, no longer stuck to her sisters, slowly walked over to him. "It's over, Zhou."

He coughed weakly. "Not yet, it isn't. If I go down, I can at least take one of you with me!"

Before she could react, Zhou opened his mouth wide and lunged for her throat. Employing all of her kung fu reflexes, Su moved away just enough to make Zhou miss his target.

But he didn't miss completely.

Su screamed as Zhou pinned her to the ground and bit down hard into her left ear. The pain gave her an extra boost of adrenaline and she was able to kick Zhou off of her, back into the wall. As she did, she felt another surge of pain and the warmth of blood dripping onto her head. She didn't have to look to know that she had just lost a good chunk of her ear.

Zhou was on the ground again, and this time he wasn't getting up. He could only look on helplessly as Su walked back to him, eyes burning with anger and...bloodlust? He never expected to see such intense bloodlust from a student of the Jade Palace. Su stepped on top of him and extended her claws, not saying a word. It was then that he realized his mistake. This girl was not going to be content just sending him to prison anymore. "Wait...please!" he begged pitifully.

Su ignored him and thrust her claws towards his throat, grinning wickedly.

"Su?!"

Her claws froze in midair. She looked back to see Wing and Wan staring at her in concern, along with Tai Lung. She looked back at her extended claws. _What am I doing?! _

For a moment, she had felt like a totally different person. The person who had burned a group of children alive in cold blood. She had gone through so much trouble to prove to her sisters that she wasn't that person anymore, and now she had nearly ruined it.

Zhou Dan didn't have the time to be relieved as Su punched him in the face and knocked him out.

* * *

As Xun had predicted, the rest of the komodo dragons fell into chaos once they found out that Zhou was defeated. Most of them retreated immediately and those foolish enough to stay were quickly apprehended. The royal guard had not come out unscathed, but there were relatively few casualties. The battle was won.

And yet, Su hadn't said a word since Zhou was carted off to prison. While the rest of the city was celebrating, the eldest Wu sister was leaning against a wall by herself, avoiding the festivities. She was there for a good five minutes before Wan's internal radar told her that one of them wasn't happy and she needed to change that.

"So...pretty cool that we finally figured out that technique, huh?" she asked, awkwardly sidling up next to her sister.

"Yes."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"What about your ear?"

The appendage had long stopped bleeding, but still didn't look pretty. "Also fine."

"Is there...something wrong?"

Su badly wanted to tell her yes. That she had almost relapsed into a bloodthirsty killer. She had sworn long ago that she would never keep her feelings from her sisters again.

But she couldn't. "Really, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up from the battle, that's all."

Wan was about to say more when the Soothsayer came up to them, wearing a small smile on her face. "Thank you all for helping to save our city. We owe you our sincerest thanks."

"Yes, you're welcome," Su said, disinterested. They had heard this so much by now that the novelty had worn off. But she was still surprised when the goat grabbed one of her paws and shook it in appreciation. She could've sworn that she felt a small pinch just then, but ignored it as the Soothsayer left them in peace. Su looked back at Wan and smiled, making her younger sister smile back.

So what if she still had darker impulses? She wasn't going to let them control her and that was all that mattered.

* * *

The Soothsayer headed back into the tower, towards her own private chambers. Once inside, she locked the door behind her and held up the small object clutched in her hoof.

A piece of Su's fur.

Crouching over her bowl, the Soothsayer got ready to perform a seeing with the stolen fur. This wasn't something that she did often, as she felt that it was an abuse of her powers, but there was just something about these three that she was curious about. She had never heard of them before, and suddenly they come in and save the city? There had to be something interesting in store for them.

The Soothsayer threw in the fur and some black powder, creating a large burst of blue flame. She gazed deep into the flames and caught a glimpse of Su Wu's future.

Her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh dear..."


	19. The Offer

_I've decided to stop labeling this section as "Author's Note" every time. I think you all know what this is by now._

_That's really all I have to say this time, except that this arc is going to be coming to a close in the next chapter. Look forward to it._

* * *

Chapter 19: The Offer

One night after the defeat of Zhou Dan, the celebrations were still ongoing. Having completed their mission sooner than expected, the Wu Sisters and Tai Lung decided to hold off on returning to the Jade Palace so they could enjoy the festivities a little. It wasn't often that they got to relax like this. They were currently in a tavern at the edge of the city, partying with civilians and soldiers alike. They didn't touch any alcohol, of course. Master Shifu would run them over hot coals if he even suspected them of drinking.

"Well ladies, you can color me impressed," Tai Lung said, sitting at the counter with the sisters. "I really didn't think you could pull it off. If you can master something like the Mushu Vortex-"

"The Wu Vortex."

"...Excuse me?"

"The Wu Vortex," Su repeated, taking a sip of water from her mug. "That's what we're calling it now."

Tai Lung laughed, slamming his mug on the counter so hard it almost broke. "Well, I guess you have that right, being the only living practitioners and all. Anyway, if you can master something like _that, _who knows what else you're capable of? You might even be as great as me one day."

"Gee, thanks," Wing said. She went to take a drink from her mug when she suddenly yawned. "I'm getting tired..."

"Already? The night's barely started. The real action doesn't start until later."

Wan was around his arm in a second. "Well, in that case..." she let out a yawn of her own. "Dang, I'm tired too."

"I guess all that missed sleep is finally catching up to us," said Su. "We should probably go to bed now."

Tai Lung shrugged. "If you say so. Good night, ladies."

"Good night."

The sisters left the tavern and headed back towards the tower, wondering why they had gotten so sleepy all of a sudden. They were wide awake when they went in.

That became the least of their problems when they turned a corner and saw about a half-dozen armed wolves waiting for them. "You three are coming with us," one of them said.

"Just can't catch a break, can we?" Wing asked, cracking her knuckles. "Fine. If you guys want to get your butts kicked then...uh..." Wing tried to form a leopard stance but was having a strange amount of trouble keeping her balance. "What's...going on...?"

"Su...I feel kinda funny," Wan said, swaying slightly and holding her head.

Su realized that she was feeling rather light-headed herself. Something was wrong here. _The drinks! They must have been drugged! But who-_

Su didn't get to finish that thought as one of the wolves struck her from behind and knocked her out.

* * *

They weren't sure how long it had been when they woke up, but when they did, it was clear that they were not in Gongmen City anymore.

Looking around, they saw that they were now in a small tent, sitting in a row of wooden chairs. Oddly, they hadn't been restrained at all, just propped up in the seats as if they were guests instead of prisoners. Before they could so much as get up, they heard a gruff voice from outside.

"Master, I think they've woken up."

"Excellent," a calm voice replied.

The front flap of the tent opened and two figures walked in. One was a large, bulky wolf with a scarred eye and dark gray armor. The other was a much shorter peacock, with stark white feathers and robes. They recognized him instantly.

"You are Lord Shen," Su said, more surprised than frightened.

"Indeed I am. And you are the Wu Sisters, saviors of Gongmen City." He spread out his wings for dramatic effect." Thank you for that, by the way. I couldn't imagine my beautiful city in the claws of those filthy reptiles."

"How do you know about all that?" Wing asked, narrowing her eyes.

Shen laughed, as if this should have been obvious. "Did you honestly believe that I wouldn't be keeping a close watch over Gongmen City? I have spies everywhere."

That made sense. A few civilians, maybe even some of the royal guard, must've been in Shen's pocket. Come to think of it, it was probably those same spies that had drugged them. "So what do you want?" Su asked.

"I want to make you an offer." Shen walked closer, staring each of them in the face. "I have heard all about your battle with Zhou Dan and his komodo dragons. Your fiery determination, that impressive new technique, your killer instinct..." Su flinched at that.. "Just from that one fight, I can see that you girls have potential...and it is being wasted."

"You don't know anything about us!" Wing yelled.

The one-eyed wolf snarled at her. "You can't speak to Lord Shen like that-"

"Quiet, mutt!" Shen snapped. The wolf gave a pitiful whimper and went silent. Shen turned his attention back to the sisters.

"I know that you are not getting the appreciation that you should be. My spies were watching you even after the battle. I'm sure you've noticed that Tai Lung is getting most of the credit for it."

They _had _noticed that. Sure, they got plenty of praise themselves, but not nearly as much as Tai Lung did. "That's only because he's been around so much longer," Su argued. "Besides, we don't care about getting a reputation." It was a blatant lie, and one that Shen immediately saw through.

"Really? Don't you want to be more than some nobodies holed up in the Jade Palace? Surely, you would like to be something greater."

The sisters looked between each other uneasily. What he just said was uncomfortably close to the truth. Back when they were cubs, all they cared about was surviving Jinzhou. But now that they were living comfortably, they didn't want to be those forgotten children anymore. They wanted some recognition.

Shen smiled at their reaction. "Come with me." He walked outside the tent with the wolf. Not having much of a choice, the sisters followed after him.

Shen's camp was a lot larger than they expected. It was no wonder why the wolves had been such a valuable defense force for Gongmen as they could see easily over a hundred of them just walking around outside. Not to mention the thick armor and dangerous weapons most of them were armed with.

"So what exactly can an exile offer us?" Wing asked.

For the first time, they could see a flash of anger in Shen's expression, but he quickly forced it down. "As you can see, I am not nearly as helpless as most of China would like to believe. When I...left...Gongmen City, I was given a generous supply of funds to help me survive. And my army has acquired quite a lot more since."

"You mean you _stole_ more," Wan stated. Not that any of them really had the right to call him out on that.

"Whatever you want to call it. My point is that there is plenty I can offer you three: Money, weapons, and a strong reputation among other things. All you need do in return is work for me a little."

Su was instantly suspicious. "What _kind _of work?"

Shen casually waved a wing in the air as if what he was about to say was no big deal. "There's a few select people in this country that my future empire would do better without. I need someone to go in and get rid of those people for me."

One by one, they realized what he was getting at. Wing and Wan both gasped, while Su had two different reactions. One side of her was just as horrified as her sisters, but she could feel the other, darker side growing excited. It wanted badly to shed blood and here was the perfect opportunity. "You're talking about assassination," she finally said, shaking a little.

Shen's expression didn't change. "What do you say?"

Had Su been by herself, she had no doubt that she would've accepted. But one look at her sisters' faces and her decision was made. "We _say _that you are completely out of your mind. Let's go."

They walked away from Shen and headed for the exit of the camp. Two days ago, they wouldn't dare turn their backs on an army of this size, but having the Wu Vortex on their side made them a lot more confident.

Surprisingly, Shen made no move to go after them, but he didn't let them leave in peace either. "Who do you think you're fooling? You claim to be students of the Jade Palace, but it's clear that you hold no loyalties to anyone but yourselves! Why do you insist on turning down my generous offer for the sake of that old tortoise?!"

They didn't even give him the dignity of a response as they disappeared from sight. The wolves watched them leave, not really sure what to do. "Uh...shouldn't we go after them?" the Wolf Boss suggested.

Shen gave a small sigh of frustration, which he had a feeling was directed at him, not them. "No. They'll be back. Trust me."

* * *

Completely oblivious to all of this, Tai Lung was still in the tavern, one of the few people left at this time of night. The partying was long over and everyone else was either working there or passed out on the floor. He didn't mind the quiet atmosphere. It gave him some time to think.

What he said to the Wu Sisters was the absolute truth. They had progressed far beyond what he ever expected from them. He never thought that they could actually master scroll #782, a task he really did think impossible. And to be perfectly honest, he still didn't know if he could beat them in a fight. Even if the city insisted on giving him the credit, he knew who the real heroes were and that bothered him.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think that maybe he wasn't the Dragon Warrior after all.

Unfortunately, the quiet didn't last as the front door of the tavern was suddenly kicked open by a panicked antelope guard. "Master Tai Lung! Come quick!" He would've pointed out that he technically wasn't a master yet, but the guard was out the door again as quickly as he came in. Tai Lung reluctantly got up and followed him. Maybe he _should_ have just gone to bed.

Tai Lung went outside and found a number of guards huddled in a circle at the edge of the street, looking down at something in between them. At first, he assumed that someone had partied a little too hard and gotten themselves hurt. When he saw what it actually was, his heart nearly stopped.

Captain Xun was lying dead on the ground.


	20. No Turning Back

_Here we are at the end of arc 2, with a nice 3000 word chapter. I'm planning to have three arcs total in this story, so I'm glad to see that people are liking it so far. The third arc is probably going to be my favorite to write, for obvious reasons. _

_This chapter also gives me the excuse to portray a battle that many KFP fans, including myself, would love to see. I just hope I don't tick anyone off with how it ends._

_Enjoy._

* * *

Chapter 20: No Turning Back

"How did this happen?" Tai Lung asked, looking down in shock at Xun's corpse. Judging by the state of his body, he had been severely beaten by multiple assailants and then had his throat ripped open by sharp claws. What a way to go.

"We don't know," one of the guards said. "A patrol found him like this about ten minutes ago."

A second guard was quickly losing his composure. "We shouldn't have left the captain all alone! Maybe we could've done something!"

"Calm down!" Tai Lung ordered. He looked back at the body, examining it more closely. He could just see something sticking out from underneath him. He pulled the object out and received his second shock that night.

"It can't be..."

* * *

"The nerve of that guy!" Wing yelled. The sisters had only just reentered Gongmen City when Wing had to speak her mind. "He asks us to start killing people for a living and expects us to just be okay with that?!"

"I guess he really _is_ crazy," Wan said. She was clearly uncomfortable with the whole subject, being the most innocent of the three.

Su was also uncomfortable, but for an entirely different reason. She didn't want to let her sisters know just how tempting she had found Shen's offer.

"Hey, some of the guards came out to greet us," Wan pointed out. A platoon of antelope guards was approaching in the distance, wearing strangely serious expressions. "HI!" she yelled cheerfully, waving a paw in the air.

She yanked it back down just in time to avoid an arrow. "Gah! What the heck?!" The guards raised their bows and fired a dozen more arrows at the sisters. They managed to dodge or deflect all of them, then took off around the corner before the next volley came. As they heard the guards rush after them, they ducked into an alleyway and hid behind some crates. Just like old times.

"What's going on?" Wan whispered. "Why are they attacking us?"

"I don't know..." Su said. "But we're about to find out."

As the guards rushed past, Su reached out and grabbed the last one in the group, pulling him into the alley. She placed her paw over the terrified guard's mouth until the others were out of earshot, then took it off. "Alright, tell us what's going on. Now!"

The guard trembled in fear. "W-We're here to a-arrest you for the m-murder of Captain Xun."

"Xun's dead?" Wan gasped.

"D-Don't play dumb! We know it was you!" he shouted, gaining some confidence. "We found a piece of your shirt lying next to him!"

"My shirt?" Su looked down and saw that there was indeed a small piece of her shirt missing.

"That's not all!" the guard continued. "The Soothsayer came forward and said that she looked into your future. She foresaw you as a murderer!"

Su almost dropped him from shock. _Is it really inevitable?_

It was obvious what had happened now. They were probably unconscious for a least a few hours. That was more than enough time for someone to kill Xun and plant her clothing on him. And there was only one person who could have arranged that.

Not needing any more information, Su swiftly knocked out the guard and left him in the alley.

"Shen?" Wing asked. Su just nodded. "Damn it!" Wing punched the wall hard enough to crack it. They were left with no choice now but to either get arrested or go back to Shen. This was just like how the Thieves' Guild had roped them in all those years ago, and now it was happening again.

"Are we going back there?" Wan asked.

"Oh, we're going back there alright," Su said, unsheathing her claws. "And we're going to make that miserable bird pay!"

* * *

Not even an hour after they had left Shen's camp, the sisters found themselves going back to it. They knew that they were playing right into his talons, but the only other option was to get arrested and hope that maybe they would be cleared, not likely considering they had nothing to prove their innocence. Their plan now was to capture Shen and get him to confess...somehow. Truthfully, it was really more about vengeance than anything.

Which was why they didn't even bother with stealth. "SHEN!" Su yelled as they stormed into the camp.

The warlord was right where they left him. The fact that he had been waiting for them this whole time just made them more furious. "Back so soon?"

Su snarled and rushed right at him, delivering a kick to his chest that flung him into a tent. The wolves gaped at the sight as the tent collapsed onto Shen's head. A moment later, he climbed out of the rubble, casually dusting himself off. "Not the most polite way to greet someone..."

"Screw politeness!" Wing yelled. "We know what you did!"

Even Wan was uncharacteristically angry. "Yeah! Turn yourself in you creep!"

"Me?" Shen asked, putting a wing to his chest in mock surprise. "From what I've heard, it's _you _who need to turn themselves in for the murder of that poor captain. I guess that killer instinct proved too much for you to handle. Tsk tsk tsk..."

Su reached out and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. She took notice of the fact that neither of her sisters seemed to have a problem with it this time. "You want us to be killers so badly, Shen? Then maybe I'll start with you!"

"And then what?" he choked out, surprisingly smug for a guy being strangled to death. "I'm your only hope of getting out of this. Kill me and you'll have NOTHING!"

Su glared at the bird hatefully, but dropped him. He was right. His death would only make things worse for them. She heard the wolves breathe a collective sigh of relief and wondered why they hadn't stepped in to stop her. _Shen's orders I bet. The little bastard has this all planned out._

"Now then..." Shen coughed, getting back to his feet. "Does this mean that you've decided to accept my offer after all?"

"Not a chance," Wing said. "We're here to bring you in."

The wolves laughed uproariously, along with Shen himself. "Are you now? And how do you expect to do that?"

The sisters nodded at each other, all having the same thought. Facing Shen and his army, they focused their chi and began to feel their tails come together...

"Hold it!"

The sisters' knot broke along with their concentration as a familiar face stepped in between them and Shen. "Hello, ladies," Tai Lung smirked.

"Tai!" Wan couldn't help but wrap the snow leopard in a tight hug. "How did you find us?"

"I caught sight of you fleeing the guards earlier. I followed you, hoping you might know who killed Xun."

"You don't think it was us?"

He scoffed. "What do you take me for? I know better than to think you would ever do something like that. No, I'm going to take down the real culprit."

Wan wisely let go of him as he advanced towards Shen. The wolves blocked his path, raising their weapons, when Shen ordered them to stand down. Wondering if they were going to get to do _anything_ tonight, they groaned and stepped back out of the way.

Shen chuckled at the approaching snow leopard. "Ah, Tai Lung of the Jade Palace. I've-"

"Let me guess: you've heard much of my skills in battle and you look forward to watching me die?"

Shen was taken aback for a moment, then glared at him darkly. "Commander...my halberd." The Wolf Boss nervously came up and placed Shen's halberd into his outstretched wing. "I'm not going to watch you die Tai Lung, I'm going to _kill you myself!"_

With that, Shen lowered his halberd and charged. Tai Lung dropped to all fours and charged back. As Shen stabbed with the halberd, Tai Lung twisted to the left to avoid it and swung at Shen with extended claws. Shen brought his metal talons up to block him. Claws and talons struck each other, creating a small flash as both fighters were thrown back a bit. They growled at each other and attacked again.

Tai Lung's ferocity was a surprise to the sisters, who had only seen him in sparring sessions and small battles where he was holding back to an extent. This was the first time they saw him go all-out and he was clearly a force to be reckoned with. But Shen was no slouch either. The warlord was using his agility to keep out of Tai Lung's reach while using the halberd to attack from a distance. He was clearly a much greater threat than Zhou Dan could ever hope to be.

"We can't just stand here and watch this," Wing said. "Come on! We've got to help him!"

"Right!" Wan nodded. They tried to run to Tai Lung's aid, but Su extended her arms and blocked them.

"Su, what are you doing?!"

"Shen has made this a duel between him and Tai Lung. If we interfere, so do the wolves. They'll overwhelm us."

"But...the Wu Vortex..."

"...is too dangerous to use now. Tai Lung could easily get caught in it. I'm afraid he's on his own here." Wing and Wan reluctantly stayed where they were. They hated feeling so helpless, especially when he was fighting for their own welfare.

Tai Lung thrust both palms into Shen's chest, sending him skidding back. Shen dug his talons into the ground to slow himself and flung a pair of feather-shaped throwing knives back at Tai Lung. Surprised, Tai Lung sidestepped out of the way, but got some gashes on the side of his face and lost a few whiskers. Shen charged him with his halberd again, but when Tai Lung readied himself to counter him, he turned around at the last second and opened his tail feathers in the leopard's face. While he was caught off-guard, Shen struck out behind him with a kick to his gut. The sharp talons dug into him, thankfully missing anything vital, but still stinging like hell.

He jumped away from his opponent, who was now shooting him a cocky smirk. Clearly, his fighting style relied on unpredictability. Who knew what else he had up his sleeve? As if reading his thoughts, Shen trust a wing forward and shot out a rope dart that tied itself around his arm. Using this as leverage. Shen flung himself straight at Tai Lung, halberd raised to take off his head.

Tai Lung may not have had unpredictability, but he had boldness. Instead of standing his ground and waiting for Shen to come to him, he rushed right back at him. Shen didn't have time to readjust the halberd before Tai Lung kicked it away. A few of the wolves shouted and ducked as the deadly weapon sailed over them. Tai Lung punted Shen into the air and, still attached to the rope, yanked down on it, slamming Shen hard into the ground. Everyone waited a few moments, but he made no move of getting back up again.

"He did it!" Wan cheered. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Tai Lung used his claws to cut himself free from the rope and approached Shen, now half-buried in the ground. He could see a hint of fear in the warlord's eyes.

What he didn't see was the Wolf Boss sneaking up on him from behind, raising a war hammer.

The sisters shouted a warning, but it was too late as Tai Lung was struck in the back and thrown to the ground. He struggled to get back to his feet only for Shen to burst out of the ground and kick him on his back. Shen's robes were torn in several places and he was covered in dirt, making him look even more psychotic than usual. He stepped onto Tai Lung's throat with his metal talons and pointed a few knives at him for good measure. "Looks like I win."

Tai Lung glared up at him. "You cheated."

Shen laughed. "Of course I cheated! Did you think this was one of your honorable spars? In a fight to the death, there _are _no rules!" He raised his knives above Tai Lung's head and prepared to bring them down.

"Wait!"

Shen froze in place and looked over to Su. "Yes? What is it?"

Su hesitated and looked back at her sisters. They could tell exactly what she was thinking and Su knew that they agreed. Still, it took her a moment before she could bring herself to say it. "Spare Tai Lung's life...and we will come with you."

"No!" Tai Lung yelled. "Don't sacrifice yourselves because of _my_ failure!"

"Don't confuse the issue!" Shen pressed down on Tai Lung's throat, effectively silencing him.

"Do we have a deal?" Su asked.

"Of course. I know better than to let an opportunity like this pass me by." He removed his talons from Tai Lung's throat and stepped off of him. The snow leopard slowly stood back up, but made no move to attack again. The deal had been made. He would not act as dishonorably as Shen.

"Our position here in no longer safe," Shen announced to his wolves. "Everyone pack up and let's get out of here!" The wolves immediately complied and started packing up the camp. With as many of them as there were, the job would be done in minutes.

In the meantime, the Wu Sisters went over to Tai Lung, who looked dead to the world right now.

"You did your best," Wing tried to reassure him. She knew it was a hollow statement, but she was never very good with compliments.

"I'm gonna miss you," Wan cried, wrapping him in another hug.

This time, he hugged her back. "Yeah...me too," he said solemnly.

Su came up and handed him a familiar scroll. "Take this back to Master Oogway will you? We don't need it anymore." Tai Lung gave a small nod in response. Something else then came to her mind. "Actually, could you do us one other favor? Don't tell anyone the truth about what happened to Xun."

That finally snapped him out of his daze. "What?! Why not?!"

"There's no point in trying to prove our innocence anymore. Besides, that reputation might actually be better for us now."

"...Alright."

"Are we ready?" Shen called impatiently.

The four leopards all glared at him, both for splitting them up and cutting short their goodbyes. "Yes," Su hissed with as much hatred as she could muster.

Not that Shen cared. "Good." He joined the wolves as they finished packing and started marching away.

"See you around, Tai Lung," Su said as she and her sisters followed after them, not daring to look back. Most people would be cursing their luck right now, but they felt strangely okay with this.

They still had each other, after all.

* * *

Several hundred li away, back at the Jade Palace, Master Oogway was feeling troubled. During his meditation, he would occasionally receive brief visions from the universe of what was to come. He was no seer, but these visions provided just enough information for him to be prepared. The vision he received this morning told him only two things: that something was wrong, and the Wu Sisters were involved.

That alone made him apprehensive as he waited at the gates of the Palace for his students to return. Master Shifu was there with him, sensing that his master was in some kind of distress. When he asked why, all he got in response was a "we'll see".

And indeed they did see when Tai Lung returned to the Palace by himself. Before they could ask what had happened, the snow leopard dropped to his knees in front of them. "I am sorry masters...I have failed you."

"Tai Lung, what happened?" Shifu asked sternly. "Where are the Wu Sisters? Were they captured by Zhou Dan?"

"No...Zhou Dan was defeated," Tai Lung said, averting his gaze. "But the Wu Sisters...are gone."

"What do you mean?!"

Tai Lung was silent for a few seconds, but Master Shifu was not the type he wanted to keep waiting. "They...work for Lord Shen now."

Oogway gasped softly, but Shifu was not surprised. This only confirmed his long-held suspicions of the three. Tai Lung resisted the urge to tell the whole story, which was more painful than anything Shen could have done to him. Shifu only made it harder by pegging him with more questions. "When did you see Shen? How long ago? Where are they heading?"

"Did they master the Mushu Vortex?" Oogway asked.

Shifu stopped his line of questioning and looked at his master in confusion. "Master Oogway, is that really the biggest concern right now?"

"No. I'm just curious."

"Yes, yes they did," Tai Lung replied, relieved for the change in topic. "Though they're actually calling it the Wu Vortex now. I brought the scroll back with me." He took the scroll out of his pocket and gave it to Oogway. He opened the scroll and peered into it.

"Very interesting..."

"Those girls mastered the Mushu Vortex?" Shifu asked astonished. "That's impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible." Shifu slapped his forehead. He walked right into that one.

Oogway continued to stare into the scroll, deep in thought. "I see that it was a wise decision to give them this when I did."

Shifu's expression turned serious. "Tai Lung. Leave us." The snow leopard knew better than to test his master's patience and was gone in seconds.

"Master Oogway...were you _expecting _this?"

Oogway finally closed the scroll and faced Shifu. "Not expecting _this _exactly, but I had a feeling those girls would not remain under my roof forever. They are far too independent."

"Then why did you give them that scroll? Moreover, why train them in the first place?"

"I told you the answer to that question five years ago. They had tremendous potential and it needed to be realized."

"By becoming criminals?!"

Oogway sighed in remorse. "That is unfortunate, but even if they _are_ criminals, I know now that I have succeeded in bringing them together as a family. With that knowledge, I can accept this outcome."

Shifu didn't look any more pleased. "Rest assured, Shifu. If the Wu Sisters ever prove to be a danger to this country, I will step in to stop them myself."

Not wanting to argue this any more, Shifu left Oogway to his devices. He couldn't believe that his master would make such a decision over his own students, unaware that he would soon be in a similar predicament himself.

With Shifu gone, Oogway relaxed himself and opened the scroll again. In the corner of the parchment, barely visible, two characters had been added.

_Thank you_

Oogway smiled. "Good luck, girls."


	21. Adjusting

_The final arc begins! It's time to see the Wu Sisters actually being the Wu Sisters._

* * *

Chapter 21: Adjusting

When the Wu Sisters left Gongmen City with Lord Shen, they were somewhat content. Once the reality of what exactly they would be doing sank in, not so much.

Yet none of them regretted making the deal that got them here. Tai Lung had been the closest thing they ever had to a true friend and they couldn't let him die for their sakes. It was ironic really. They were in this situation because of their morals, and now they had to abandon them.

The first thing Shen did when they set down camp again was to have new uniforms custom-made for them. Sensing their resistance, he assured them that gray and black were appropriate colors already and just made a few small changes to the design. Their new, heavier gray shirts had criss-crossing black stripes that ran down the center and spiked shoulders that jutted outwards. They had two small flaps that hung down over their pants, which were a darker gray and extended down to a pair of thick, black boots. They now had gloves as well, fingerless to allow them full use of their claws. Shen also offered them bandages to wrap around the tops of their heads for added protection. Wing and Wan accepted these, but Su's ear still hurt with physical contact and she turned them down. He was fine with that, saying that the scarred ear would make her look more intimidating anyway.

For a long time, Shen didn't even bring up the topic of assassination and simply ordered them to continue their regular training, using his wolves as sparring partners. He himself frequently observed these sessions, acting as a mentor of sorts. Shen was a disturbing contrast to Master Oogway, encouraging them to attack more ferociously, use their claws more frequently, and take advantage of any opening they could find. Everything that five years of kung fu training had taught them was cowardly and dishonorable was now being pushed to the forefront.

Of course, if they really wanted to be dishonorable, they could back out of their deal at any time and just ditch the bird. But that unfortunately wasn't an option. Word had already spread about their alleged murder of Captain Xun and they were officially wanted criminals.

They had nowhere else to go.

* * *

It was roughly two months after their arrival that Shen decided to up the ante.

It seemed like an ordinary sparring session at first. The sisters walked into a makeshift arena set up in the center of their new camp, surrounded by a crowd of wolves. Shen was sitting off to the side in a large chair. The Wolf Boss was next to him, staring down at the ground in obvious grief. That was a red flag right there. The large canine was almost as upbeat as Wan. Looking around, none of the other wolves seemed particularity happy either. Something serious was definitely going on here.

Shen soon noticed their presence and walked up to them. That was another oddity. He usually liked to stay seated during their spars. "Greetings, Wu Sisters. As per usual, I have three wolf warriors ready to fight each of you one-on-one." He gestured to said wolves, standing on the opposite end of the arena. They noticed that these wolves looked much less formidable than their usual opponents and they knew right then what he wanted them to do.

"This time, however, I want you to finish them off."

"You mean...kill them?" Wan gulped.

"Yes, I'm afraid these wolves have recently failed me on a spying mission into Gongmen City." He shook his head in disappointment. "I was going to execute them, but then I thought 'Wait, I have three certain felines that I just hired to do this for me'.

The sisters glared at him. "Oh, don't worry about it. These wolves have barely any combat training at all. It will be a piece of cake." He turned on his heel and headed back to his seat.

Wing sighed. "Looks like it's finally time."

"Maybe we could...fake it?" Wan suggested.

"Oh, and one more thing," Shen stopped to look over his shoulder. "I've told them that they can redeem themselves by killing _you_, so I don't recommended showing them any mercy. That is all."

"Hmm...so much for that."

Su was the first one up, facing a nervous wolf holding a sword. She knew that killing him would not be hard for her. In fact, she was subconsciously looking forward to it. What she worried about was how her sisters would take it. Even though they all agreed to do this, she knew that they were much less willing.

"Match...begin!" Shen announced.

Su didn't waste any time. The second Shen threw his wing down to signal the start of the fight, she rushed her opponent, claws extended. The wolf didn't even have the time to raise his sword before Su got in range and slashed his throat open. The wolf staggered back for a moment, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

"She is efficient indeed," Shen muttered to himself, then raised his wing back up. "The winner is Su!" There were normally cheers from the wolves whenever a fight ended, but now there was silence. Wolves were pack animals and she had just killed one of their own. There was nothing to celebrate here. And if they were going to get through this, two more would have to die.

Su walked back to her sisters, hiding her claws behind her back to keep them from seeing the blood on them. They were both in a state of shock, much like they were during the Thieves' Guild incident. But this was even worse, because they knew they would have to do this themselves.

"Finish it quickly," Su advised. "Dragging it out will just make it harder."

"Right," Wing said nervously. She had never taken a life before, and while she knew that she could do it, she was more concerned about what it would to do her. If Su was any indication, it wouldn't be pretty.

Wing stepped into the arena, along with a wolf wielding a spear. The wolf was clearly unnerved by the death of his pack-mate, but also determined not to suffer the same fate.

"Match...begin!" This wolf had learned from the last one's mistake and charged right for her. Wing stood her ground and as the wolf attempted to impale her on the spear, she leapt on top of the weapon, then over his head. Before he could turn around, she grabbed him from behind and attempted to snap his neck, wanting a quick, but less messy kill.

Unfortunately, the wolf was so surprised by her attack that he dropped his spear and fell backwards, pulling them both to the ground. Wing's arm slipped and as she tried to bring it back up to the wolf's head, his struggling caused her to instead pull it around his neck, strangling him. As the wolf flailed around in panic, instinct took over and Wing just continued to pull tighter and tighter. It felt like hours later when he finally stopped struggling and went limp in her arms.

"The winner is-"

"SHUT UP!" Wing yelled. She shoved the wolf's body off of her and went back to her sisters, near hyperventilating. If this could leave _her _so shaken, how the hell was _Wan _going to do it?

The youngest sister was wondering the same thing herself. Unlike Wing, she _had _killed before and it was an experience she was hoping to never think about again. So ever since this started, she had been constantly anxious and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It was only the presence of her sisters that kept her somewhat calm, and Wing's reaction was quickly driving that away.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the arena. The last wolf looked as anxious as she did, which only made it worse.

Could she really do this?

"Match...begin!"

Despite his nervousness, the wolf came right at her. He had a sword like the first one and swung it straight at her head. She dodged by jumping backwards, but the wolf kept coming, swinging at her repeatedly. With her agility, she had no problem avoiding every swing, but she couldn't bring herself to strike back. This wolf wasn't like Hao, who she could at least justify by wanting to protect her sisters. Try as she might, she couldn't see him as anything other than a victim.

She was so distracted by this internal conflict that the wolf finally got a lucky hit on her, slicing into her arm. She screamed and clutched the wound, allowing the wolf to follow up with a kick that knocked her onto her back.

"Well, two out of three isn't bad," Shen shrugged.

Lying on her back, Wan looked over at her sisters, both absolutely terrified. "I'm sorry sisters...I couldn't do it..."

Like always, Su knew exactly what to say. "Yes you can, Wan! Remember our vow! Do this for us!"

It took her a moment to understand what she meant. If she died here, what would happen to her sisters? They would be distraught and of much less use to Shen. He might even decide to just kill them too.

She couldn't let that happen.

The wolf was standing over her now, sword raised to deliver the final blow. That one second was all Wan needed to spring back to her feet, grab the wolf's wrist with one arm, and use the other to drive her claws into his throat. The whole thing happened so fast that she barely even realized what she was doing until she saw her claws now dripping with blood. She let out a small shriek and yanked her claws back out, letting the wolf fall to the ground. Shen raised an eyebrow in surprise before bringing his wing up again. "The winner is Wan!"

Wan went back to her sisters much like Wing had, shaking and traumatized. Su offered her a hug that she immediately accepted, falling into her arms and sobbing.

The crowd of wolves dissipated, none of them wanting to be there any longer than they had to. Ignoring the grief-stricken Wolf Boss, Lord Shen got off of his seat and walked over to the sisters, clapping. "Congratulations, Wu Sisters. You have passed your final test."

Wing, who had been silent since her match, snapped. "We don't want your congratulations! Do you even _realize_ what you've done to us?!"

He did and he didn't care. "Good people become criminals. It happens. You can at least take comfort in the fact that you're not the only ones who have changed recently."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Shen chuckled, in a way that told them that he knew something they didn't. "Silly me, I forgot. You three have been training all this time. You haven't been kept up to date on current events." He called the Wolf Boss over, who silently handed him a piece of parchment. It was the kind that was copied and distributed across the country to inform the citizens of important events.

He tossed the parchment to Su, who awkwardly caught it around the still-sobbing Wan. She looked it over, expecting to see a story about some guy snapping and going on a rampage or something. And that's exactly what it was.

"What is it, Su?" Wing asked, seeing her sister suddenly pale. She peeked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. "Tai Lung is in _prison_?!"

"WHAT?!" Wan shot up and snatched the parchment from Su's paws. She read it top to bottom, trembling. "No...no way..."

"Yes way," Shen said. "Seems that he got turned down as the Dragon Warrior and didn't take it very well. Makes you wonder if his recent failure might have contributed." He paused a moment in thought. "Oh well, guess we'll never know." He walked away, leaving the sisters alone with the biggest shock of their lives. None of them said anything, but there was one question on all of their minds.

If Tai Lung could fall so far, what was stopping them from doing the same?


	22. Deadly Combination

_I'll be honest, I'm not really a fan of this chapter. It's one of those plot points that I just needed to get out of the way so I can move on to more interesting things._

_But every time I think I'm putting out a not-so-good chapter, you guys seem to like it anyway, so maybe I'm just being too hard on myself._

* * *

Chapter 22: Deadly Combination

The Wu Sisters hoped that Shen would not make them kill as much after the fights in the arena. Unfortunately, the opposite was true.

He had made them his personal execution squad, dragging hapless wolves right to their tent for them to dispose of. Su volunteered to do the deed every time, but since she was the only one fully comfortable with it already, Shen demanded that Wing or Wan do it instead.

She had to fight back the urge to kill him on a daily basis. Loathe as she was to admit it, they needed him. He was their only source of shelter and support when the rest of the world wanted them imprisoned or worse. So even as her protective instincts screamed at her to stop him, she knew that this was their best option. They couldn't end up like Tai Lung.

That didn't stop her from feeling guilty every time she had to watch one of them take a life, but at least it didn't seem to be affecting them as much anymore. They seemed almost the same on the surface: Wan bubbly and cheerful, and Wing snarky and short-tempered. All she really noticed was that they gradually got less and less anxious about killing. But that was only going to help them, right?

She didn't realize just how much they had changed until Shen sent them on their first assassination mission.

* * *

Shen's army had been in conflict with a group of gorilla bandits that inhabited the nearby forest. He had no doubt that if he put all his resources into it, he would have no problem wiping them out. But, as he had said to them, he hated to waste an opportunity. The gorillas would be a valuable asset under his command. Instead, he wanted the sisters to sneak into the bandits' camp and kill their leader, hoping that he would then be able to sway the rest of the group to his side.

The sisters were currently perched on the branches of a tall tree that overlooked the bandits' camp. The height and the cover of darkness kept them perfectly concealed.

Wing sat on the branch, carefully observing the bandits through binoculars as they moved about the camp. There weren't many of them, maybe only a dozen outside of their tents, but that was more than enough to overpower the three of them. "We're definitely gonna need stealth here. If any of them spot us, we're dead. He can't see us coming until one of us is ready to slit his throat."

Wan nodded. "Yeah, and once we off the big guy, we'll have to get out of there quick. Shen can handle the rest."

Su was leaning against the tree behind them, seeing what her beloved sisters had become. The way they talked about killing now, so _casually, _sent a chill up her spine. This was one thing she never wanted them to do together.

"Are you okay, Su?" Wan asked.

"Yeah, you've been quiet for a while now."

_Gods, they don't even notice._

"Yes," she lied. "Just thinking about the mission."

"Oh? Any ideas?"

Su decided that thinking about the mission really would be a good idea right now and took the binoculars from Wing. Anything to take her mind off of her sisters. As she looked over the camp, her first instinct was to light one of the tents on fire and try to kill the bandit leader in the chaos, but she quickly rejected that idea. That was what a _thief _would do. As an _assassin, _giving the enemy any cause for alarm was a bad idea. Wing was right; Stealth meant everything here.

"Follow me," she said, silently dropping down from the tree and into the bushes. Wing and Wan followed after her and they snuck into the campground. Only now did they realize just how well their lives had prepared them for this. When you combined cunning thieves with skilled martial artists, the natural result was deadly assassins.

Crouching on all-fours, the felines dashed from tent to tent in seconds, leaving the bandits none the wiser. Between their skills and the general lack of intelligence in gorillas, it was almost laughable how easy this was. Peeking out from behind one tent, they spotted their target. He was a heavily armored black gorilla even more muscular than the rest and carrying a sword as big as his arm. He showed his dominance by backhanding one of his subordinates across the face and then went into his tent. As going through the front of that tent would have been suicide, the sisters headed around to the back instead.

Smiling to herself, Su stuck a single claw in the back of the tent and slowly pulled down...

* * *

The leader of the gorilla bandits was named Jian Kong. He had led this gang for almost a decade since his father left him in charge and succeeded in making them more feared than ever. No one dared to mess with his gang of gorilla warriors. At least, not until now.

He knew all about Lord Shen of course. His actions were known all across China, as was the impressive bounty the Imperial Army had placed on his head. Kong intended to take that bounty as soon as he could crush Shen's wolf army, a task he didn't expect to have too much trouble with. So what if they vastly outnumbered his bandit gang? It was strength that mattered in this world and his boys had that in spades. The puny mutts didn't stand a chance.

But that didn't mean he was unconcerned. There were rumors spreading around that Shen had acquired a group of assassins to do his bidding. If that was true, his strength didn't matter anymore. Assassins didn't fight fair. They used any underhanded tactic they could come up with to kill their target as quickly as possible.

Kong took a deep breath and sat down on the floor of his tent. He was being paranoid and he almost slapped himself for his cowardice. He was one of the greatest warriors who had ever lived. There was no one alive that could stop him.

His ears picked up a small ripping noise from behind him. He started to turn his head around to look when a gloved paw clamped over his mouth. He reached for the large sword attached to his armor, but felt a sharp pain across his throat and knew that it was already too late. The paw came off of his mouth, but Kong could no longer call for help as he choked on his own blood. He fell backwards onto the ground, staring blankly at the ceiling above him.

The last thing he saw was three pairs of eyes staring down at him before all went dark.

* * *

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Shen asked, giving a light kick to the corpse of Jian Kong. "Such a powerful warrior...such a mighty weapon...and yet he's dead in a matter of seconds. Do you see now why good assassins are so valuable to me? Imagine how much longer this would have taken without you." The sisters didn't respond.

After killing Kong, they had quickly made their way back out of the camp and into the forest, where Shen and his army were waiting to strike. The rest of the bandits didn't even know that their leader was dead until they tried to alert him of their attack. After that, they immediately surrendered, pledging their loyalty to Shen out of fear and respect. It was actually pretty amusing seeing the massive apes bowing down before the much smaller peacock.

The Wolf Boss came up to the sisters and raised his paw for a hi-five. "Good job on that kill, Su!"

"Hey, don't we deserve some of the credit?" Wing asked. Su frowned at her. Truthfully, she _had _done all of the work, and intentionally so. The less her sisters had to be exposed to this, the better.

But the wolf didn't know that and so he turned his raised paw towards the middle sister instead. "Sure! Good job, Wan!"

"I'm _Wing!"_

"Oh...sorry." He came to the sad realization that he wasn't going to get his hi-five and slowly lowered his paw.

"Well, it's been a fun night," Shen said, yawning. "But I think it's time we went home. We still need to make room for our new soldiers. Su glared at his back as he tried to leave. She wasn't just going to let him walk away from this. Not after what she had to witness today.

"Wait!"

Shen peeked back at her. "Yes?"

"I believe you said before that you had 'plenty' to offer us for working for you. I think it's time you start paying up."

She knew that they had a lot of favoritism from the warlord and could get away with that kind of blatant disrespect. No one else could talk to him like that and expect to live, not even the alpha wolf. "Of course," he said. "What do you want?"

Su was surprised when she couldn't think of something right away. Really, she just wanted some kind of compensation for their trouble and hadn't actually thought of what yet. They didn't really need money or other material goods since Shen provided everything for them. But come to think of it, there was _one_ thing he hadn't given them yet. In fact, it was something that they had been lacking for a very long time.

"We want a home."

"What are you talking about? I've already given you a home."

"No," Su scowled. "We want an actual home. An independent one. One that we can live in without you babysitting us!_" _

Shen turned away from her for a moment and she could tell that he wasn't happy with her request. Too bad she didn't give a damn. "Fine...consider it done. I'll find something for you soon enough."

He walked away again, this time without interruption. Su was satisfied enough with his response, just as long as he pulled through. She looked back at Wing and Wan, who were awkwardly getting acquainted with the gorillas. They hadn't heard her conversation with Shen, but she doubted they would mind. She knew them well enough to know that they wanted this as well.

If they were going to be anything other than Shen's puppets, they needed to have a little privacy again.


	23. There's No Place Like Fortress

_Despite positive feedback, I so disliked chapter 22 that I decided to write 23 ASAP. It's all coming together now..._

* * *

Chapter 23: There's No Place Like Fortress

"A VOLCANO?!"

Lord Shen had taken a few days to find a new home for the Wu Sisters, giving Su plenty of time to tell her siblings what was going on. As she expected, they too were excited at the prospect of having a place to themselves. The home that Shen finally found for them was an old fortress that had once been used by his army, but he abandoned it some time ago.

Needless to say, they had a pretty good idea why.

Wing slammed both paws onto Shen's desk. "In case you haven't noticed, we're _clouded leopards. _We're not exactly built to withstand high temperatures."

"In case _you _haven't noticed, finding homes for wanted criminals is rather difficult. If you want, I could find you some local townhouse instead. You'll get to enjoy a normal life for however long it takes the Imperial Army to bang down your door." Wing couldn't think of a reply to that and Shen pushed her off his desk. "I don't see what the big deal is. The Hubei Volcano hasn't erupted for centuries. You are in little danger."

"Little danger?" Su raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it still brimming with lava pits?"

"Yes, but capable assassins like yourselves have good enough reflexes to avoid them. Or so I hope." The bird had an annoying habit of making them look like idiots whenever they asked a question.

"I kinda wanna check it out," said Wan. "Sounds exciting."

"That's the spirit," Shen said. "It's at least worth a look, isn't it?"

Su and Wing knew right there that they had lost the argument.

* * *

"OW! OW! OW! HOT! SO FREAKING HOT!"

The Wolf Boss hopped back and forth from one foot to the other as he made his way up the volcano path. When the sisters headed out to go look at the fortress with Shen, the wolf insisted on coming along to keep watch over his master, a decision he was now starting to regret.

"This is why people wear shoes," Wing said dryly.

"SHOES ARE FOR WIMPS!" he yelled back, even as he continued to yelp in pain.

"Well none of us are carrying you, so either suck it up or leave," Shen said.

The Wolf Boss hesitated only a moment before he continued to follow them. The sisters were actually a bit impressed by his loyalty. It was a very similar loyalty that they had to each other.

"Is this why you had to abandon this place?" Su asked.

"Yes..." Shen answered, somewhat embarrassed.

After putting up with the searing heat and wolf cries for another ten minutes or so, the group reached their destination. The Hubei Volcano was certainly an intimidating place, complete with two large holes in its wall that looked suspiciously like glowing eyes. No wonder Shen had once set up base here. It practically screamed "evil lair".

As the sisters followed Shen inside, they were surprised by how much cooler it was, even though there was literally lava dripping from the walls. The main hall was lined with two thin pools of lava at each side and a set of stone pillars that ended at some stairs and a small table that they assumed was used for planning purposes. Two doorways at each side led deeper into the fortress. The Wolf Boss immediately sat himself on the ground and started blowing on his burnt feet while the rest of the group took a look around.

"Okay, it's a pretty cool place, I'll give it that," Wing admitted.

"Is that your face?" Wan asked. Her sisters had no idea what she was talking about until they saw her pointing back at the gate they just came through. A large stone head formed the doorway and it was unmistakably built in the warlord's likeness.

"I had some extra funds, so I decided to spruce the place up a little," Shen explained. Su made a mental note to have it re-sculpted later. They were here to get _away _from Shen. They didn't need his giant face staring at them.

They continued their tour into the next set of hallways. The one on the left led to the kitchen, the dining area, and the soldier barracks, which had way more beds than they would ever need. In fact, the entire place was vastly oversized for them, considering it had been built for an army.

The hallway on the right led to a training hall, much simpler than the one at the Jade Palace. It was really just a crude obstacle course and a few training dummies. There was also a storage room, filled with various supplies that the army must have used once. Most of the equipment was in complete disrepair and it was clear that the army had simply forgotten to clear this room out when they left. Shen of course denied that accusation.

It was in this hallway that the Wolf Boss caught up with them, limping slightly. Wan was the only one who paid him any mind. "Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks Wing."

"Uh...I'm Wan."

Wing grabbed the Wolf Boss by the front of his armor and yanked him towards her face. "Are we really that hard to tell apart?!"

"Yeah...kinda," he said nervously. "I mean, Su stands out with that ear and those eyes, but you two look pretty much the same." Wing snarled and pulled him even closer until their noses touched. "Though it's pretty easy to tell the difference _now," _he added.

Wing dropped the wolf at her feet and stormed off into the nearby storage room. She emerged moments later, now wearing an extra set of bandages around her face that stopped just under her nose. "There! Is that better?"

"Yeah!" The Wolf Boss gave her a thumbs-up, not noticing her sarcasm. Wing just huffed and rejoined her sisters.

With the tour finished, everyone gathered back in the main hall.

"So, what do you think?" Shen asked. "It is to your liking?"

Su shrugged. It would be just fine for her, but it wasn't her opinion that she valued. "Sisters?"

"I think it's really neat! I love it!" Wan grinned. As if she would give any other response.

"Wing?"

"Hey, I would take a landfill if it means having a place away from Shen." She said this right in front of the warlord, who glared at her. The Wolf Boss was trying very hard not to laugh at that. "Though I do have to wonder if there are any towns nearby. We need someplace to stock up on goods."

"Not much, I'm afraid," Shen said, still miffed at the middle sister. "The nearest town is some dump called Jinzhou. You can see it from the entrance. But don't worry, I'll continue sending you supplies so you won't ever need to visit it. In the meantime, there should be some rations still left in the storage room."

The sisters would've asked more about the supplies, but they stopped listening after he mentioned Jinzhou. _Our hometown is that close? Could this be a coincidence...or another of Shen's manipulations?_

"Why are you glaring at me like that?"

"Nevermind," Su said. "We'll take it."

"Excellent! In that case, I'll leave you all to get situated. Let's go, commander."

The Wolf Boss gulped. "You mean...back down the volcano?"

"Yes."

The canine gave a low whimper and followed his master outside. The sisters could hear his shouts of pain for the next several minutes.

* * *

It was a few days later and the sisters had quickly made themselves at home in their new residence, which they dubbed the "Wu Fortress". Not the most creative name, but it was the best they could come up with. They had already made some small changes, clearing out most of the junk in the storage room (and seeing how well it burnt) as well as fixing up the training hall for their own needs. It was still a far cry from the Jade Palace's gauntlet, but it would suffice.

Su was currently in the middle of the main chamber, mediating in lotus position. No matter what Shen said, she knew that many of the things Master Oogway taught them were still valuable. Mediation was one of them. There was still no better way for her to clear her mind and relax herself.

It was unfortunate that her sisters didn't join her at these times, because they had a habit of interrupting it. "Hey Su! Come check this out!" Wan yelled from outside.

Su took a calming breath. "Later, Wan. I'm meditating."

"No really...you need to see this." Su sighed and got up to walk to the front gate, making another mental note to find a more secluded spot to meditate. She looked outside to see the second-strangest thing that would ever come to their fortress.

There were birds. A _lot _of birds. Most of them were hawks with a few other varied species thrown in as well. One that really stood out was a small blue bird towards the back who didn't seem like he even wanted to be there. They were all sitting on the path that led up to the fortress, just staring at them.

"Okay...what's this about?" Su asked impatiently.

One of the hawks at the front bowed to them. "Greetings, Mistress Su. We are messenger birds, sent by Lord Shen for your services." _Mistress Su? I could get used to that._

"What services?"

"Communication services, of course. Lord Shen wishes to use us as a way of keeping in contact with you and sending you assassination contracts."

"Of course he does." Su put her palm to her face. She should've known better than to think he would leave them in peace for long. At least this was better than Shen himself coming to get them.

"Do we really need all of you just to do that?" Wing asked.

"Of course not, Mistress Wing. The rest of us are for bringing you supplies, delivering your own messages, or receiving contracts from other clients."

That last comment gave them all pause. "...Other clients?" Wan asked hesitantly.

The hawk cocked his head to the side. "You don't know?" The sisters were starting to feel a growing dread. "Shen has started advertising your services to the criminal underworld. They all know about your hit on Jian Kong and I imagine that you'll be getting many more contracts in the near future."

"Su, where are you going?" Wing and Wan snapped out of their shock to notice that Su had gone back inside. The eldest sister walked to the center of the room and took another deep, calming breath.

Then she threw her head back and unleashed the single loudest roar any of them had ever heard.

"Are you kidding me!?" she whirled around on them. "It wasn't enough that he took us away from the Jade Palace? It wasn't enough that he made us kill for him? Now he's selling us out like some cheap brothel girls?!"

Wing and Wan were both stunned. They had never seen Su this angry before. "I think you'd better get out of here," Wan whispered to the messenger birds.

"But we have orders to-"

"Come back later. Just give Su some time to calm down."

The lead hawk nodded and signaled for everyone to fly off. Once they were gone, Wing and Wan went inside to find Su still in the main hall. She had stopped yelling by now and was now just standing there with her back to them. Once they got closer, they could see she was actually _crying._ They couldn't even remember the last time they had seen Su cry.

Wan came up and place a paw on her shoulder. "Su, come on. It's not that bad."

"Yeah, we can adjust to this. Just like everything else we've been through."

"You don't understand..." Su said softly. "I'm the big sister. I'm supposed to _protect _you from stuff like this. Now Shen is completely controlling our lives and there's nothing I can do about it. I've failed you as a sister." Wing and Wan looked at each other uncertainly, having never heard anything like this from Su before. Just how long had she been bottling this up?_  
_

"Well, sure...it's true that we don't really have control of our own lives anymore," Wing scratched the back of her head. "But we're still happy. I think you've done a great job of protecting us."

"You've saved our butts so many times by now, I've lost count," Wan agreed. "And as long as we're together, nothing else really matters right?"

"I guess..." Su said, wiping her eyes free of tears. "Could you leave me alone for a while?"

Wing and Wan weren't sure that they had helped, but they did as she said and left the room. Su sat back down to continue her mediation, now needing it more than ever. Her sisters' words had indeed helped. She no longer blamed herself for their situation. That was just a brief lapse in judgment, brought on by emotional distress. No, she knew exactly who was to blame.

As Su closed her eyes and fell back into a meditative state, she made another vow, one very different than the one between her sisters. She vowed that one day, whenever the opportunity presented itself, no matter how long it took, they were going to kill Lord Shen themselves.

They were going to kill him and take everything away from him, just as he had done to them.


	24. Legendary Criminals

_That's right. Another timeskip. The last one in the story as the sisters are now pretty much their canon selves. But that doesn't mean this story is almost over. No, not quite._

_For the record, the sisters' ages at this point are Su: 24, Wing: 23, and Wan: 21. _

* * *

Chapter 24: Legendary Criminals

It had been seven years since the Wu Sisters joined Lord Shen and became assassins for hire. They were now bonded to each other in a way that they never expected, but no longer objected to. How could they? They had found nothing but success in their new business.

Their notoriety had started with Captain Xun and Jian Kong and only went up from there. They went on to continue erasing many more names. Warlords, politicians, and soldiers all died by the command of Shen and anyone else who wanted to hire them. And there were plenty who wanted to hire them.

The target tonight was a familiar one: Yong, the mayor of Jinzhou. Evidently, the old antelope had not learned from their theft of his statue twelve years prior and became more greedy and spiteful than ever. Now, someone else had gotten sick of him and wanted the mayor out of the picture for good. The sisters were peeking over the gate to the mayor's house, just like they had before. There were definitely more rhino guards around than last time, likely a result of the mayor's paranoia. If they were limited to the skills they had back then, they probably couldn't hope to pull this off.

Too bad for him then.

"Study their movements, sisters," Su advised. "We must not be noticed." They spent the next several minutes doing just that, watching the guards move back and forth and learning their patterns. Then they made their move, zipping right between the guards with such swiftness that anyone who caught a glimpse of them would think they were noting more than shadows. But they didn't allow even that.

Their entrance into the house was significantly different than last time. They simply walked through the front door with none the wiser. The inside was mostly empty until they reached the top floor. The hallway in front of the mayor's office was also filled with guards.

"How do we sneak by this time?" Wan asked.

Su unsheathed her claws. "We don't."

They leapt from guard to guard, killing each in less than a second. They never knew what hit them.

"What now?" Wing whispered, facing the mayor's ornate door. "Should we just walk in?"

Su paused. Something didn't feel right about that. She had learned to trust her instincts in these cases. "No, I have a better idea."

Su led her sisters into the neighboring room and out the window, climbing around the back of the building to reach the window that led into the mayor's room. Peering in, Su could see that this was a wise move on their part. Mayor Yong had a crossbow trained on the door, ready to fire the second it opened. Either he suspected his guards were dead or he was even more paranoid than they thought.

Wing quietly picked the lock on the window and the sisters slipped in, slowly creeping up on the mayor. Still watching the door, Yong had no idea they were now sitting right behind him. Playful as ever, even on the job, Wan reached out and tapped him on the shoulder with a claw. He turned around with a start to see her grinning at him.

"Boo."

Yong screamed and fell backwards off of his bed, firing the crossbow bolt harmlessly into the ceiling. Su followed after him, pinning the mayor to the ground with one paw and holding the other above his head. He looked into Su's face, not just with fear, but with recognition.

"You..." he gasped. Su thrust her claws into his throat, killing the mayor instantly.

"Well, that was easy," she said, casually checking her claws. This was a habit she had developed soon after embracing her killer instincts. Why, she had no idea.

Wing looked down in satisfaction at the mayor. In a way, he was to blame for everything that had happened to them. "Were we supposed to dispose of the body?"

"No, our client wanted the people to know what happened."

"Then let's get out of here." Su couldn't agree more. She didn't want to spend any more time in this place then she had to. It brought back too many memories.

The sisters exited through the window and met up with their client on the outskirts of the city. He turned out to be the mayor's former aide who only wanted him dead so he could make a grab at his position. They might have had a problem with this if there was any sense of morality left in them.

As it was, they just saw it as another sack of gold.

* * *

"Another fantastic job, sisters," Su praised as they returned to the Wu Fortress.

Su left for the kitchen to prepare some tea while Wing and Wan dumped their earnings onto the main table and started counting, making sure that the mayor's aide hadn't been dumb enough to shortchange them. Not that it really mattered. Lord Shen continued to send them supplies even while they received such large payments from their other clients, giving them more money than they knew what to do with. They eventually decided to put it into the fortress.

First off, they had the giant Shen head demolished and re-sculpted into a leopard. Then they decided that they should go ahead and ask for a few more leopard statues while they were at it. The job required them to hire building contractors from outside, who asked for a much steeper price than usual for dealing with the Wu Sisters. Of course, this wasn't a problem since they left with neither their money nor their lives. They couldn't have anyone outside the criminal underworld knowing where they lived.

After that was done, they started using their payments for smaller goods. All of these were purchased from Jinzhou by one of the sisters, wearing more civilian clothes. The townspeople didn't find anything suspicious about a single leopard making all these purchases. After all, the Wu Sisters were always supposed to be together, right?

Among the items they bought were more advanced training equipment, a chess set for the main room, and banners to hang up on the walls. They even bought some ink and made themselves a personal emblem: a silhouette of a leopard head with claw marks raked through it. They started marking their messages with this emblem to make them more recognizable.

Another one of their big purchases was an assortment of cages for their bird minions, set up in what had once been the storage room. They had set up an efficient system with the birds. There were hidden, designated spots around China that clients could leave requests for their services. The birds would fly out periodically to check these spots and bring back whatever they found. They did this in small groups at a time to avoid drawing suspicion. The sisters would then look over their requests and respond in turn. The birds would spend the rest of the time in their cages, perfectly content as long as they were well-fed.

"I've got the tea," Su announced, passing around cups to her sisters.

"Let's have a toast to our victory," Wing said, raising her cup in the air. The three clinked their cups together and took a sip.

"Ah...that's the stuff," Wan sighed, then burped. "Oops...excuse me."

"How do you burp from tea?" Wing laughed.

"Oh, shut up!" Wan playfully swatted at her from across the table.

Su took another sip of her tea, wearing a warm smile on her face. As twisted as it seemed, they had never been more content.

* * *

Far away from the Wu Fortress, one of the sisters' messenger hawks soared through the morning sky.

He had picked up a request from a client and was heading back to the volcano, eager to deliver it and get his reward. He was just thinking about how good the new birdseed was when an arrow came out of nowhere and struck him in the wing. He managed to stay in the air for about two seconds longer before he plummeted straight to the ground. The impact ended whatever life he had left.

A moment later, a paw reached down and yanked the arrow out of the dead hawk. The paw belonged to a lanky fox, wearing a green shirt and pants with brown boots and a white sash tied around his waist. He also had a large longbow holstered to his back and a quiver on his waist. "Hey, check it out! I got another one!" the fox called over his shoulder.

A few feet away, a wolf was lying against a large boulder, trying to take a nap. His only clothing was a pair of tattered, black pants, showing off his extremely muscular body. Wrapped around his shoulders was a long chain connected to a meteor hammer. The wolf didn't even open his eyes at his partner's shout. "That's nice."

The fox pouted. "That's nice? Is that all you're going to say? No 'Nice shot, buddy' or 'I wish I could do something like that'? Nothing?

"I've seen you shoot down dozens of those damn birds by now. The novelty has worn off."

The fox stuck his tongue out at him, a gesture that went completely unnoticed, and bent down to check what his target was carrying. His friend did have a point. He _had _been doing this for far too long. Every time he saw a messenger bird, he would take out his longbow and shoot it down. It was a good source of target practice, but tedious nonetheless. But he knew that it would all be worth it in the end as long as he found...

His eyes widened.

Found this. "Holy crap, I finally got one! It's one of the Wu Sisters' birds!"

"What?!" the wolf awoke with a start. "Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, it says right where they live and everything." He took a closer look at the parchment. "The Hubei Volcano? Geez, no wonder we've never found them. That's some pretty dangerous territory to make a living."

"I don't _care _how dangerous it is," a third voice spoke. From behind the boulder came a figure almost entirely concealed by a dark black cloak. Only his paws were exposed and both of them were covered in bandages and burn scars. "We're going there. We have a job to do."

"Right..." the fox coughed uncomfortably. "This job...it's not going to be hard for you, is it Zei?"

"No." He clenched his bandaged fists. "Not at all.


End file.
